


Deviated Pursuits

by Gibbster95



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Superhero/Villain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-08-22 09:40:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8281331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gibbster95/pseuds/Gibbster95
Summary: Laura Hollis was eager to step out of her superhero family's shadow and make a name for herself in the growing city of Silas. However, a new super villain coming into town, set on becoming the ruler of Silas was definately not what she had bargained for. How will she defeat this new evil, and in the end, will she even want to? After all, there is no proper etiquette for when heroes fall for villains





	1. Chapter 1

Laura Hollis had always been destined for greatness. Her father had told her this endlessly, as had her grandfather and basically her entire family, from the moment she was born to the day she left their bunker. And she had always believed them. That’s why she was currently crouching on top of a gargoyle, watching the city below in the dead of night. The clock behind her struck one, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. This wasn’t her first time; the bell did nothing to faze her anymore. Her hair began to whip around furiously, and she effortlessly pulled it back and up into a tight ponytail. Her father used to make her cut it short, almost shaven, to make sure it was out of the way at all times, but when she grew old enough to leave her home, she instantly set to growing it out. She wanted to feel normal, to feel like any other girl. And she was loving it. Even when she wasn’t putting the bad guys away, she felt powerful and strong as her hair blew in the wind behind her. It was a feeling she had become addicted to, even though her father was right about one thing; it did get in her way when she was in a fight. Although she would never admit that to him. 

Her phone buzzed loudly in her belt, snapping her out of her thoughts. She smiled to herself as she fished it out and read the message quickly. She already knew it was her father, wishing her luck, like she was five again. Laura had been on her own for a few years now, and yet every night, he sent a message, telling her to be safe. This city wasn’t like the one she had been trained in; nowhere near as dangerous. He didn’t need to be so worried about her. It wasn’t like these thugs could really hurt her anyway. She put her phone away again and secured the pocket. Quickly she checked to see if everything else was in its place: her pepper spray, her rope, a set of handcuffs, the collapsible baton and a road flare. They were all there, in place and neatly fastened. Out of habit, her fingers unclasped and reclosed all the holsters, making sure that none of them were sticky. She didn’t even realise she was doing it most of the time. It was from a story that her father told her, about how he had needed his own baton, but the clasp had gotten stuck, and he had ended up being beaten pretty badly. That story had haunted her ever since. 

Laura sniffed a little, looking down at the city below again. The cars were moving around quietly, in no rush at this time of night, while a few people were rushing down the streets, eager to go home. Their pace was fast and afraid, frantic eyes searching dark alleys for danger before they let out a sigh of relief when they found that nothing was lurking around. Even in a city with this low a crime rate, it was only human nature to be so afraid of the shadows and what they might hold. Laura’s job was to ensure that they did get home safely, to make the streets a little bit safer, meaning they were a little less afraid of the shadows. 

Just when Laura was about to move to another spot, something odd caught her eye. There was a man walking down the road, seemingly in his mid-twenties, with hair slicked back in the latest style, and a small patchy stubble on his chin. It wasn’t his chiselled chin that had Laura fixated upon him though. Instead it was the oversized trench coat that he was wearing on this very warm summers night. Based on her own experience, there was a good chance he was hiding something. She kept her stare on him, observing the quick nervous glances he was sending around as he walked down the road at a brisk pace. He ducked into a dimly lit alley and pulled out his phone. Calling someone, maybe; meeting someone, definitely. Not for anything legal, that was for certain. Laura grinned and put on her mask, covering her eyes and most of her nose. Her grandmother had made it for her, like she had for every costume in her family, and it fit her like a glove. She remembered the first time she saw the final outfit; a deep, dark coloured Kevlar armour, with the vulnerable parts strategically toughened and dyed in a vibrant yellow. The entire suit was still incredibly flexible and fitting to ease and follow her every move. Laura had loved it so much; she had refused to take it off for a whole day, amusing her father to no end. With her mask in place, her gadgets ready and her impressive suit, Laura began to make her way down the building she was perched on, her heart racing inside her chest, and over to the alleyway that poorly hid the man in the trench coat had disappeared into. 

The journey down was easy. Laura effortless moved from crack to crack, easing herself down gently and silently. She hopped across to the next building, catching herself without a problem, and made her way quickly and quietly towards a set of fire stairs that were placed just to the side of the trench coat man. He was looking even more nervous now, constantly looking around him. Laura smiled to herself. They never learn to look up.  


“Johnny boy!” someone called out, and the man spun around to look at the voice, as did Laura. There were a group of four of them, all in matching uniforms. Laura frowned. She didn’t recognize it at all. It was mostly black with dark red patches here and there, with the insignia of something sewn onto the front of it. She was too far away to see what it was for sure, but it looked like some sort of symbol. She would have to keep one awake enough to tell her what this was all about.  


“Dave, don’t sneak up on me like that.” Johnny boy said, walking up to meet them. Dave sneered at him. Laura had to move closer; they had moved out of range.  


“Oh Johnny boy, take it easy. We’re all friends here.”  


“No, friends ask politely for things, not rob them of all their stock in the dead of night.” Laura hopped and leaped through the air to the next building, making sure her movements were light. She hung off a window ledge, just above one of the thugs.  


“The Queen wanted guns quickly. I may have mentioned your name.”  
The Queen, Laura thought to herself. She needed to remember that name.  


“You sold me out?!”  


“I’m sorry mate. The Queen means business. If it helps, she’s willing to pay you handsomely for what we took, and even more if you keep us all in a steady supply of ammo.” Johnny boy seemed to like that.  


“How much are we talking?” Dave sneered again, and produced a bit of paper, handing it to Johnny boy. When he read it, he gave out a long whistle.  


“I told you, The Queen means business.”  


“This could do me a lot of good.” Johnny boy said. The conversation was coming to an end. Laura had to act now. She tapped the side of her neck to start the small device that would alter her voice a little and pushed herself off the side of the building. The thug closest saw her first, but before he could react, she had kicked him squarely in the face. His grunt of pain alerted the others and they all took a few steps back, and they couldn’t help but look on in shock that this woman had appeared from nowhere. Laura pulled herself up to her full height slowly, which actually wasn’t very tall at all, and she snarled at them.  


“Who’s first?” she said confidently, and watched as the men before her started to squirm. The one closest tried to pull his gun, but Laura saw the movement, and quickly bolted over, launching a knee into his chest and ripping his arm away, holding it close to her as the rest of his body was thrown backwards. Without hesitating, she yanked his arm forward and with one hand, bent his wrist further than it should go with the other, stopping immediately when she heard the all too familiar crunch. The man screamed in pain, and collapsed onto the floor, struggling to breath and holding his wrist. When Laura turned back, the other thug had begun running, Johnny boy was launching himself behind a dumpster and Dave was charging at her, a huge knife drawn. Laura side stepped him easily, flicking out her baton at the same time, and smacked him in the ribs with it, hard. He yelped, but stayed standing, spinning around for another attack. Laura dodged the blade, grabbed his arm and brought the baton down on his forearm, hitting the main nerve to his hand, causing him to drop the knife. She then spun on her feet, and flung him over her shoulder, sending him flying onto the ground. He landed on his side, but before he could scramble up, Laura stomped on his ankle, snapping his tendon. The man screamed out in pain, holding his leg. Laura looked around for Johnny boy but he had vanished. Laura turned her attention back to Dave.  


“I guess you’ll have to do.” She said, and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and launched him into the wall. He yelped again, but before he could do anything, Laura was right up in his face, holding him up by his jacket. Laura’s mask and fighting skills were threatening enough for most, but when she wanted to, she was hugely terrifying.  


“Please, for the love of God, don’t kill me!” Dave pleaded. Laura smirked at him.  


“Well then, tell me what I want to know, and maybe I’ll consider it.” Of course she wasn’t going to kill him. She was going to handcuff him and leave him for the cops. But he didn’t know that.  


“I got nothing to say to you.” He said, trying to act tough. She tutted at him.  


“Oh Dave. We both know that isn’t true,” his eyes popped out of his head at the mention of his name, “I want to know about this Queen. Who is she?”  


“I don’t know, lady. She’s new in town. Only a few months, but she’s made a quick impression. Seems to know all the higher uppers on the street and has them working for her. I used to be the mob’s boy until one day my boss tells me I work for the Queen and I’m to wear this.” He indicated to his jacket. Laura moved her hand a little, revealing the symbol sewn on. It was a club, like from a deck of cards. She frowned.  


“The Queen of Clubs…. Why?”  


“I don’t know. All I know is that she wanted guns and money, and I told her I could get guns. She said she was going to pay for them and I was to tell the dealer this.”  


“That’s a lot of fire power. Any idea what she’s doing?”  


“No! That’s all I know, I swear! I’m just a lowly thug, what more will I know?”  


“What were you supposed to do after this?”  


“I was to go home until I was needed again. That’s it, I swear.”  


“I believe you Dave. I really do. So sorry in advance for the black eye.” A wave of confusion fell over his face, and Laura wasted no time in punching him so hard that within a second he crumpled to the floor. Laura walked away quickly, not hanging around for the others to recover themselves and begin fighting back again. Her mind was pondering. There was a new king pin in town. And she was going to stop them before she carried out her plan. But first, she had to find where she was hiding. 

 

Finding the Queen was actually a lot easier than she expected. These new thugs were all over the city, making deals and swapping money and information wherever they went. All she had to do was listen and follow the clues and there she was, right at the front door of the Queen’s hideout. Laura ran through the huge stacks of boxes in order to remain hidden, sneaking her way further and further onto the compound. She shook her head a little. Typical villain. Hiding out in a huge warehouse outside of the main city with overly expensive things that they most likely stole. So typical. Laura was about to turn a corner, when two guards appeared out of nowhere, and she jumped backwards back behind a few boxes. They were laughing and joking with each other, and then another voiced boomed out.  


“Hey! Enough joking around! The Queen wants bodies over by the bank for the big bust. Get yourselves to the trucks, we’re leaving in 5.” As the big guy was walking away, the other two were mocking him quietly, and laughing about it while they did what they were told. Laura smirked. So, the Queen was planning a bank heist… this was going to be interesting. 

Laura had no problem finding the three trucks that were being loaded up with thugs, but there was still no sign of this Queen of Clubs. So instead, she moved quickly and rolled under one of the trucks, easily dodging the guards and thugs that got in her way. Her small size was really helpful in situations like this. So under the truck she rolled and hoisted herself up, lying flat against the undercarriage. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long before the truck began moving at an alarming speed. Laura suddenly thought about the fact that she might be crushed if the truck came down from a hill wrong, but she tried to push that thought out of her mind. Now was most definitely not the time to start panicking. So to keep her mind off of things, she tried to distract herself with all the nice things she was going to do when she got home later. Firstly, she was going to make herself a glass of hot chocolate, then eat some cookies because she couldn’t resist them, and then finish Veronica Mars for the ninth time. It sounded like the perfect plan for an evening. And it most certainly distracted her from the possible death of being crushed by a high speed truck. 

Finally, the truck began to slow down and stop. Laura remained under it for a little while longer, watching as a lot of boots ran past her and up the stairs towards the bank. Laura recognised the bank straight away. Vordenberg Bank was the largest and wealthiest bank in all of Silas, mostly due to some shady business that the Baron was supposedly doing behind closed doors. But that wasn’t Laura’s concern at the moment. Her main concern was the people apparently going to rob it. The path was finally clear enough for Laura to make her escape from underneath the death trap, and she rolled out, quickly finding higher ground out of sight. She spied an open window on the second floor, and leaped from railing to railing until she reached it, slithering inside with ease. She could hear everything down below, and there were a lot of people. When she peaked her head over the balcony, she couldn’t even give a rough estimate of how many people there were down there. A lot more than necessary, that was for sure. At best estimate, there were at least 30 thugs. They all seemed to be scanning the lobby, guns at the ready, awaiting orders. Laura was trying to plan a good tactic for her approach, but every situation ended with her getting blasted by bullets. The only thing she could think of was cutting the power to the building, but that meant finding the fuse box for one thing, and that might trigger the alarms which would bring down the police on top of them. While that would help with controlling the thugs, it would not help Laura in the slightest, and innocent lives could be lost. It was a risk she had to take though. And seeing as the thugs were already in the building, she guessed that they had already disabled the alarms for her. So Laura started to move around the top floor, trying to find a way down into the basement, or hopefully the fuse box for the lights themselves. She had barely made it half way around when another voice boomed out over the thugs. Everyone stopped talking, and Laura stopped moving. She gingerly peeked her head down into the lobby again to see what was going on. 

Below her, the thugs were all looking at a figure standing on the counter where the tills were. The figure was dressed in an all-black suit, with fitted leather trousers, heavy armour on their chest, and amazing over the top shoulder pads that looked like they were made out of some sort of rigid plastic. Behind them flowed a cape of silk that hung beautifully, and on their head was a helmet that looked to be the same material as the shoulder pads. When they turned their head, there was a symbol spray painted on. The shape of a club.  


“There you are, Queenie,” Laura murmured to herself.  


“Listen up!” the Queen yelled out, “This is the Vodernberg bank. Inside the vault downstairs, there are millions of dollars in bank notes. Your jobs, are to carry as much of it as you can out of those doors and onto those trucks. Whatever is there when we leave, shall be divided amongst us, and those are your wages. So if you want to be paid more, you’d better take more.” A few ripples of laughter erupted, but quickly died down, “With this money, and a few other supplies, we are going to do something no one else has dared to do. We are going to take over and rule this city. And then we are going to move on and take more and more cities! And soon, everyone will bow before us! Are you ready for that kind of power?!” cheers erupted from the thugs and they all took off running towards the basement and the vault. Laura had to do something fast. They wouldn’t be hanging around for much longer, not with the promise of a huge pay day. The Queen was still stood on the counter, making things even harder. Laura looked around, trying to find anything that would help her. That’s when she saw the sign for security. Perfect. 

It took Laura less than a minute to find the security room. She opened the door quietly, peeking around it slowly. To her relief, it was empty, apart from the tided up, knocked out guard. Laura wheeled him out of the way a little bit and set to work on the computers. The monitors were showing all the thugs running to and from the vault, carrying as much money as they could hold.  


“Greedy douche canoes,” she said, fiddling with the computer more. She was looking for some sort of power control, but there was nothing. That’s when she saw a button on the side. A big, cliché, red button. She tilted her head at it. That must be a back-up alarm. If she pressed it, the police would be here in minutes. But that would create a fire fight most likely, which Laura was hoping to avoid. However, it appeared to be her only option. So Laura banged on the button and hoped that the police would bring the swat teams as the alarm rang out loud and clear. The thugs seemed to pause and look around in confusion, clearly unsure what was going on.  


“Everyone back to the trucks! We need to leave, now!” The Queen of Clubs bellowed out, jumping off the counter. This was her moment. Laura sprinted back along the top floor, and followed the Queen with her eyes as she ran to the exit. Just before she passed through the doors, Laura took a giant leap from the landing, and plummeted straight into her target. Completely thrown off balance, the Queen went flying and they both tumbled down the stairs a little. Unlike the Queen, Laura had expected the impact, and easily corrected herself, rolling to her feet quickly and expertly. The Queen however, continued to roll down the stairs, stopping only at the bottom. She staggered to her feet and looked up at her attack. A few thugs had taken notice, and were running over, when the sound of many, many sirens erupted into the air. They hesitated, and Laura used that to her advantage. She leapt down the stairs, kneeing one of them in the face before using that momentum to punch another one. The third ran. Laura spun around to look at the Queen of Clubs. Even without her punk boots, the Queen couldn’t have been more than an inch taller than her. Laura was expecting fear, panic, anger. But all she saw was curiosity. And then, the Queen laughed and began to clap.  


“You certainly know how to make an entrance,” she said, her voice dripping with slyness and confidence, “But I’m afraid you have me at a loss. What exactly are you supposed to be?”  


“I am Yellow Shield, and I’m the one that’s going to bring you to justice.” Laura yelled, but the Queen only laughed at her, a great booming, mocking laugh.  


“You look like a bumblebee to me, cupcake,” she said back, humour dripping from her voice. Laura bunched her fists up, but there was no time for the banter portion of the fight. The police sirens were much closer now, and Laura had to leave before they arrived. Clearly the Queen was thinking the same thing, because she gave a small shrug and then sprinted towards one of the trucks. Laura hesitated, pondering if she should chase her or not, but thought against it. Clearly, this woman was here to stay. She’ll meet her again soon enough. And so, Laura ran into the nearest alley, throwing herself up the wall until she reached the roof, and was away, jumping from roof to roof like it was second nature. She never felt more free than when she was roof hopping. And now she got to do it for a long time. After all, her small apartment was very far away. Thank god for those cookies that were calling her name. She was going to need the sugar rush when she finally got home. 

Laura threw open her window and stumbled into her room. Her legs were burning, her lungs were struggling for air, and she wanted to collapse into bed. It was close to 4 in the morning, and she had work the next day. She was going to be exhausted. But she still had to get out of her suit. Laura took off the mask quickly and then her belt, throwing them on the bed for now. She reached under the bed itself, and yanked out the trunk in which she stored her superhero things. Inside it were a few more gadgets, and her father’s guide book to being a hero. It was a hefty and annoying read, and yet Laura had always kept it. After all, her father often quizzed her on its contents when she went home, especially the parts about safety, and if she failed, he would make her sit down and read it in front of him. There was also a spare costume in the trunk, just in case she ruined one, she had another one while her grandmother repaired it. It was a trade secret of how her grandmother made them, and if Laura ever needed repairs, she had to go home because she had no idea how to make one. Laura suspected it was more of a ploy in order to make sure she visited her grandparents regularly. If that were the case, it most certainly worked.

Laura began unzipping the costume she had on, wriggling this way and that to get it done. Even after all these years, she still hadn’t mastered this part yet. When she finally got that done, she pulled on her sleep shirt and shorts and finally let her hair down, running her hand through it and letting it tumble down around her shoulders. She threw everything in the trunk before kicking it back under the bed. Just then, Laura’s stomach growled angrily. She quietly moved to her door and opened it, thanking every deity she could think of that she remembered to oil the door hinges recently so they didn’t whine horribly. She dashed over to the kitchen, her footwork so light that not even she heard it. She found the cookies quickly, and grabbed a handful of them, licking her lips instinctively. They were her favourite kind; chocolate chip and lots of them. Suddenly the room erupted into brightness, blinding Laura. She jumped from shock, and reached around for a weapon, and then spun around to look at her attacker. 

Her roommate Danny, couldn’t help but laugh at Laura. The look of fear while clutching an overwhelming large handful of cookies to her chest, while holding up a spatula. She snorted and Laura glared at her.  


“Danny! You gave me a freaking heart attack,” she said, a playful anger in her voice. Danny laughed loudly as Laura almost threw the spatula down on the counter again.  


“Wow, you must have been real scared to almost swear about it.” Laura shot Danny a fake grin, but couldn’t help laughing herself. It must have been a pretty funny sight, she had to admit.  


“What are you still doing up anyway?” Laura asked, relaxing and taking a bite out of a cookie. Danny sighed, grabbing a cup out of the cupboard.  


“Just a bad dream is all.”  


“About the crash?” Danny paused but nodded. Laura nodded, and then smiled.  


“Well, this calls for both of us to watch one of those romantic films you love so much.”  


“Laura, you have work tomorrow, and we both know for a fact that you can’t stay up all night.”  


“After this sugar rush, I’m not going to be able to sleep and you know it.” Danny laughed as they moved to the living room and planted themselves on the sofa.  


“You know, you should really change that diet of cookies and grape soda that you have. It is seriously unhealthy.” Laura rolled her eyes.  


“Just watch the film and let me worry about my dieting schedule, thank you.” The two of them took a while to decide on the film, but once they did, they both fell into a comfortable silence. And not 10 minutes into the film, Laura had passed out on Danny’s shoulder. She looked down at the tiny body next to her and couldn’t help smiling. Her hair had tumbled into her face at some point, and Danny gently tucked it behind her ear out of the way before turning her attention back onto the movie. They had known each other since starting university, and for all that time, Danny had been hopelessly head over heels for this tiny childish girl. It had broken her heart to see Laura date looser after looser, getting her own heart broken by them. Danny had decided a little while ago that she was going to voice her feelings, express them openly to Laura. But whenever she came home from her job, Laura was either out or asleep, and when she was there, the timing was never right. Danny did make her mind up then though, that she was going to say something soon. She had to. She didn’t know if her heart could take it anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

When Laura woke up the next day, she immediately knew she was going to be sore. She knew this because when she tried to lift one of her arms to rub her eyes, it screamed out in agony and protested every single little movement she made. She groaned and sat up slowly, stretching as much as her stiff back allowed her to. She could tell from the smell of the apartment that Danny had already left for work; the overwhelming smell of coffee was so strong that she could always tell that Danny had made one, and even how long ago she had made it. Laura wrinkled her nose. She’d much rather have a lovely mug of hot chocolate over anything else. 

She heard a small beeping sound, and went to flick the alarm on her watch off. But when she looked at it, she realized that it was still a good half an hour until her alarm was set to blare out. She frowned and looked around the apartment, trying to see if she could figure out where this beeping was coming from. She stood up, her legs almost giving out from her weight, and began to follow the beeping sound, tracking it all the way into her room. The beeping got louder and louder until she finally passed by it and discovered the source; her cell phone. Laura frowned again. What did that beep even mean? She picked it up and looked at the screen. She had only had a smart phone for a few months, finally joining the 21st century with the rest of the world when she had had some money to spare, defying her father once more by allowing herself such a luxury. He had warned her against them, saying they could be too easily hacked, but she had needed one for work; the ability to read emails anywhere was still an exciting notion to her. But she was still learning how it all worked, and mostly trying to remember to turn off certain notifications. Like the beeping it was currently making for some unknown reason. 

“Stupid thing,” she said, trawling through the settings trying to find the right button to stop it. After no success of finding the source of it, it stopped on its own, sending the apartment back into silence. She threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. First moment she got, she would take it down to Lafontaine in IT and get them to deal with it. Right now though, she had an extra-long shower to look forward to, and she had a whole host of songs she wanted to get through. 

Exactly an hour later, Laura marched into work. She passed by the front desk, smiling kindly to the security guard who was always on duty when she arrived, and waited patiently for the elevator. There was a light tap on her shoulder, and Laura turned to see her two friends, Perry and Laf, fall in beside her. 

“Good morning Laura. It was a shame you had to cancel on dinner last night.” Laura put on her best sympathetic face.

“Yeah sorry Perry. Danny wasn’t feeling so hot so I thought it best to stay around.” Of course, that was a lie, but only a partial one. After all, Laura had learnt that the best lies were the ones that had some element of truth to them. 

“You sure did miss a good time. JP and I were certainly on fire during our karaoke session.” Laura couldn’t help but see the flicker of pain on Perry’s face. 

“Now I’m really glad I stayed home,” Laura joked, making Laf laugh, “I’m actually glad I ran into you. Can you take a look at my phone and make it stop beeping at me?”

“Aw did someone get scared by the mean technology this morning?” they teased, causing Perry to hide a grin.

“Just make it stop okay? I could have had more time in bed if it wasn’t for this thing.” This was also a lie. In reality, Laura couldn’t risk her phone sounding off alarms and notifications left and right while she was trying to hide from thugs. Her father was right about one thing; an older phone makes a lot less noise.

Laf huffed, and took the phone, flipping through the apps and settings with ease. They suddenly stopped, and frowned, then their eyebrows shot up.

“Uh, Laura, did you actually read the notification?” they asked, while they all stepped into the lift that had arrived. 

“No, I was too busy trying to make it stop beeping angrily at me. Why?”

“Oh nothing. It’s just a silly thing reminding you that the premiere of the new Carmilla Karnstein movie is tonight, which you were asked to write an article for.”

“Karnstein?” Perry asked, confusion all over her face. Laura’s face on the other hand, broke out in the biggest blush and grin at the mere mention of that name. 

“You know her, Per,” Laf explained, “The very attractive leather wearing actress that Laura here has been head over heels for as long as I’ve known her.”

“It has not been that bad,” Laura said, her voice cracking, and she nervously tucked some hair behind her ear. 

“Sure Miss Pine-a-lot, it hasn’t been that bad.” Laf said mockingly, rolling her eyes. 

“You have been very taken with her, even I can see that.” Perry chimed in, as the doors opened again, and Laf went to leave.

“Listen Laura, the sounds should be off, but just double check and bring it down if I missed anything.” They said, before the doors closed, leaving them on the floor with the rest of the IT department. Perry cleared her throat, brushing a bit of dust from Laura’s jacket absentmindedly. 

“So… this premiere. Could be a big break for you.” Laura’s face began to beam again as she struggled to hide her grin. This movie premiere was not only Laura’s shot to get a weekly column in the magazine, but it was also the premiere of a Karnstein film. And it was no secret to everyone that knew Laura that she had more than a little crush on Miss Carmilla Karnstein. In fact, if there was anything to do with Carmilla, Laura was there, whether it was daydreaming over a new photoshoot picture or analyzing every scene of her latest film. To say Laura was excited was an understatement. This could be her one chance to meet her celebrity crush, and she was not going to mess it up, especially not if it meant she wouldn’t be able to see what Carmilla was going to wear tonight. 

Laura was mentally debating if she would prefer to see Carmilla Karnstein in a suit, leather trousers or a dress when the lift door ding pulled her back to reality. She shook her head a little, pulling herself out of her little daydream. Now was the time to work, and, if possible, find out a little bit about the bank robbery that she had stopped last night. Her mission today was to find out as much as she could on the Queen of Clubs and what she was doing in Silas. And she had to do this without anyone catching on as to why. 

Perry and Laura split off, saying their goodbyes before Laura planted herself at her little desk in her tiny cubicle that was surrounded by many other small identical cubicles. As she waited for her computer to warm up and wake up, Laura thought about ways to track this new group. If the Queen was getting her thugs from other gangs, it should be easy to reach out to some informants and friends she had made over the years, which meant she would have to write a few emails. Which would take about an hour. Which left the other 7 hours of her work day to do the work she was supposed to be doing. It wasn’t what she wanted to be doing at all. She wanted to be writing about news, problems, protests, and opinions. Instead, she was stuck editing the sports section. Laura shot up in her chair. The premiere. For the rest of her day, she could be preparing for the premiere, just in case she was able to get a sneaky interview with Carmilla herself. And background research on the film and director of course, which would be needed for her one off article. Laura sprang into action, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she, firstly typed out the emails she needed to ask her friends to keep an ear out for anything to do with the Queen, and secondly to find out as much as she could about this new film. After a few hours, she had composed a list of appropriate questions, avoiding the obvious ones about diets, relationships, and fashion, while also touching on a few key issues. The film, as far as Laura could tell, was a typical romance film about a boy and a girl who fight against society to be together. Nothing special or Oscar worthy, but enough to reel in a huge profit at the box office. And Laura certainly wasn’t going to complain about having a chance to see her favourite celebrity on the big screen. 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up suddenly and Laura straightened her back, aware of someone behind her. She spun in her chair quicker than most people could blink, only to see her co-worker Mel standing there, her expression unamused. 

“Where’s my story, princess?” Laura sighed. Mel wasn’t a bad co-worker, even though she acted really tough and mean. She just didn’t take anything from anyone, and due to working in sports, she had to battle the egos of men on a daily basis. Laura allowed her to be snippy and harsh. She just didn’t like that she had to. 

“Sorry Mel, I’ve actually been preparing for this movie premiere that the boss is sending me to. If I get time to edit your story, I’ll do my best to get it to you for the end of the week.”

“You had better. I’m not carrying your ass Hollis. You have a job to do, and if I’m not on time because of you, I’ll make your life a living hell.” Laura was about to mutter a rude comment under her breath when Kirsch came bounding over like a puppy in an open field. Mel rolled her eyes and stormed away. She had always hated Kirsch. It had something to do with being in rival societies at college. She didn’t actually remember, nor did she particularly care. 

“Hey Laura,” he said, practically shaking with excitement,  
“The boss man just told me that I am to be your dude-scort for tonight’s premiere.” Laura sighed but smiled at him. For a sorority graduate, Kirsch was actually one of the sweetest men Laura had ever met. But she did wish he wouldn’t speak like that. 

“I didn’t realise that I needed an escort for tonight.”

“Yeah neither did I, but the boss wants two of us there, so here I am.” In case it wasn’t clear, he gestured with his hands, making Laura laugh a little. 

“Alright sounds good. Pick me up at 7? I want to get there early.”

“Cool bro. Will, uh… will Danny be there?” he stammered, licking his lips a little. Laura gave him a look and smirked. 

“Possibly. Depends if she finishes her shift on time.” Kirsch nodded and smiled to himself. 

“Double cool. See you later, little hottie.” And he waved as he walked away. Laura sighed again, shaking her head at him. Danny and Kirsch had met at college, but like Mel, Danny had been a part of the Summer Society, and therefore, did not like Kirsch or his band of Zetas. It certainly didn’t stop him from trying to be her friend though, and if she was being honest, Laura didn’t think Danny disliked him all that much. Maybe not to the point where she would date him though, but friends? She could see it working. Laura spun back around to her desk and looked at the time. She huffed. She still had hours to kill. Maybe she should do some actual work now. 

 

Laura was doing her best to try and tame the last bits of her hair that stubbornly refused to remain in the design she wanted. She never normally pulled her hair back, but this was a fancy occasion, and she wanted to look professional. Danny had helped with the outfit, choosing something she hadn’t dreamt of wearing, but once Laura saw it, she knew it was the one. After all, it showed off her figure perfectly, hugging and bending in all the right places. Of course, there was a price to pay for such a tight dress; she totally hadn’t gotten stuck getting it on, and totally didn’t call out for Danny, who had proceeded to almost collapse with laughter in the doorway before helping her. That was not something that had happened to Laura Hollis, the ultimate crime fighter of Silas. 

Laura’s phone flashed at her, and she grabbed it, unlocking it quickly and reading the email that it showed. She huffed. None of her contacts could tell her anything useful about the Queen; she was new in town, wanted men, paid handsomely for them, promised money and power, use the symbol of a playing card club to identify her men, and she was planning something big but they had no idea what. She slammed her phone down in frustration, huffing again and strangled the air around her phone with annoyance. 

“Woah, calm down there Laura,” Danny said, suddenly appearing in her doorway, “It’s going to be okay working with Kirsch. Just pretend you’re working with a giant man child and you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to call him bro a lot to get him to like me.” Danny laughed, leaning on the door frame, folding her arms. 

“Still can’t believe you are finally getting your big break. You truly do deserve it, especially after having to work with Mel and Wilson for so long.” Laura raised an eyebrow, a smirk escaping her. 

“Wilson? Are you and a certain someone on a first name basis now?” Danny rolled her eyes. 

“Over my dead body.” She said as she rolled off the doorframe and walked to the kitchen. Laura gave herself one last look in the mirror. The deep crimson dress was looking great, her hair was cooperating for now, and she looked ready. Nodding to herself, while struggling slightly to breathe in the tight fabric, she walked tall into the lounge, flashing Danny an exaggerated pose. 

“What do you think?” Danny looked up and her jaw dropped for a moment before she blinked and returned to her senses. 

“Um, you look great. Very red carpet worthy.” She mumbled, her face growing redder by the second. Laura was beaming as she pushed everything she needed into her clutch, and right on time, there was a knock on the door. 

“That’ll be Kirsch,” she said absentmindedly, then paused and smirked again, “I’m sorry, to you that’s Wilson.” She heard a groan from Danny and smirked harder. She was never going to let that go. 

When she opened the door, Kirsch was standing there, his expression a mix of his usual glee and a nervous look that he always wore when he thought Danny was around. 

“Sup, little nerd,” he said, his eyes immediately trying to see into the apartment, “Is D-bear home?” 

“If he called me D-bear tell him that I’m not here!” Danny called from the kitchen. Laura shook her head. 

“Apparently, my apartment is haunted by a ghost that sounds just like her.”

“Apparently so,” he said smiling, “Yo D-bear! You ready to have your butt handed to you at the annual picnic?! I’ve totally got you this year for the eating contest!”

“You haven’t got anything on me, Kirsch!” Danny called back, followed quickly by, “I mean, nothing! I’m still not here!” Laura laughed, calling her goodbyes before closing the door behind her. 

“You know you let her win every year, right?”

“Yeah but don’t tell her that.” He said as they walked away from the door. Laura chuckled. He had it so bad, and Danny didn’t even know. 

“You’ll have to say something eventually.” Kirsch shrugged. 

“Well if she ever stops insulting me, I’ll think about.” He said, chuckling to himself as they stepped into the lift, “So you excited about meeting your sexy lady crush tonight?” Laura sighed. It was going to be a long, but great, night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode wasn't beta-d so if there are any mistakes, feel free to point them out.


	3. Chapter 3

Kirsch’s camera flash had become a part of the blinding wall of flickering light, all of them eager to capture the celebrities as they walked down the red carpet. Laura saw all kinds of people walk down the carpet in front of her, even managing to pull over the director to answer a few questions, and had slapped Kirsch with excitement enough times that he had learnt to stand well away from her when a new face appeared. But while Laura had been freaking out all night, the guest of honour, Carmilla Karnstein, had still not arrived. And Laura was growing more and more frustrated. 

“Why isn’t she here yet?” Laura said with so much annoyance the only thing she was missing was a foot stomp or two. Kirsch laughed and clicked the camera at Laura. 

“Come on, lighten up little hottie, I’m sure she’ll arrive soon.”

“Patience is not my strong suit, Wilson.” She mumbled to herself, looking out towards the crowd of people that had suddenly arrived. With them came the co-star of the film, a typically handsome man that Laura didn’t care about, but from the screams the crowd, everyone else clearly did. She went onto her tiptoes, trying to see over people, to see if she was here yet. What she saw turned her blood cold; For just on the other side of the road, just out of the eyes of the press and the public, were three thugs. Three Queen thugs. And they were staring directly at the premiere. Laura swallowed hard, her eyes never leaving the thugs. Just then the cameras started going ballistic, and the crowd began cheering louder. Laura looked towards the beginning of the red carpet and saw her. It was actually her. Carmilla Karnstein was actually here, barely 5 metres away. And all Laura could focus on was the fact that the thugs had perked up, and were paying attention. Laura looked at Camilla, taking in the dress with strategically cut holes all over it that she was wearing as quickly as she could, wishing she could freak out more about the fact she was wearing such a revealing outfit but the thugs were on the move; heading directly towards the premiere. She had to stop them. Laura shoved her tape recorder and list of questions into Kirsch’s hands. 

“Kirsch, hold these for me, I need to take care of something.”

“Wait, what? Laura!” he called out after her but Laura was already slipping in and out crowd, dodging arms and waving hands as she went. She never took her eyes off the thugs, watching closely as they drew closer and closer to the crowd, to Carmilla. . . and of course to the other celebrities. Laura reached into her clutch and pulled out the spare mask she always kept on her in case anything happened. Of course, she really wished she was wearing a more practical outfit. This dress certainly made her look great, but as a crime fighting fashion choice, she had some concerns. She ducked into a nearby shadow, slipping on the mask and yanking out the hair pins and clasps that she had spent hours putting in place. Not that she was bitter about it. The thugs would have to walk past her to get to the carpet, and she was ready. Her plan; grab the nearest man, beat them all up, push the weak link for information. It seemed like a great plan. 

The first thug stepped into view and Laura sprang into action. She reached out and grabbed the man by the scruff of his jacket. The man yelped as Laura pulled him into the shadows, launching him down the alley behind her. Before she had even finished recovering from that, there was a hand on her shoulder, trying to get a hold of her. Laura spun around, pulling the second thug along with her. He followed without a choice, slamming into the wall behind Laura before crumpling onto the floor. The third was more cautious, not just running headlong into it like the second one. But Laura held her ground, waiting patiently for an attack. She didn’t have to wait long. He began to throw a punch, eager to put her down, but Laura dodged it with ease, bringing a hand up sharply before bringing it down on the side of his neck hard. He began gasping for air, crumpling forward just enough for Laura to bring on elbow down on his back, sending him crashing onto the ground. The first thug was back on his feet, and charging at Laura. But he was loud and slow, allowing Laura to easily sidestep and avoid him, hitting him on the back of his head. The man groaned, stumbling but still on his feet. She kicked the back of his knee, causing him to sprawl out on the pavement in front of her. Before he could react, Laura pulled his head back, wrapping her arm around his neck and squeezing a little. He began to struggle, clawing at her arm, wriggling this way and that, trying to break free. But Laura’s grip didn’t give him any room to move, and she brought her head closer to his, put her mouth close to his ear. 

“I’m going to ask you this once and only once.” She growled in a low voice, trying to disguise voice. Another down side to the dress; no automatic voice altering technology. 

“I ain’t telling you nothing, lady.” The thug grunted, and Laura squeezed harder.

“That’s too bad. I was really hoping you would cooperate, I really didn’t want to get blood on my dress.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” The thug snarled; and Laura responded by wrenching his arm back and pulled until the thug flinched with pain. 

“Try me, I dare you.”

“Okay, okay, calm down lady!”

“Tell me about the Queen, and I’ll consider calming down.” 

“I don’t know anything, I swear.”

“Why were you heading towards the premiere? It’s not really your kind of film.”

“The Queen wanted us to tail that hot actress,” he grunted, “I don’t know why, but when we saw her we were to more towards her and see if anyone attacked us.” 

“Seems like you got your wish.”

“Hey, we were warned about a girl in a body suit, not some broad in a dress.” 

“Careful buster, I don’t take insults well… and for your information, there’s only one guy that’s allowed to call me a broad,” The thug pulled a face of confusion, but said nothing. Laura paused, suddenly realizing she had said too much, and tried to regain the situation, “The point is, I want to know where the Queen is. If you can’t tell me her plans, I’m going to find someone who can. And who better than the mastermind herself.”

“No way, I’m dead if I tell you.”

“Yeah well… you’re totally dead if you don’t” Laura said, trying to sound threatening. 

“Alright alright blonde, keep your skirt on. The Queen told me to tell this only to the jumpsuit girl, but I’m guessing that’s you. She’s at the abandoned house on the university campus. She’s waiting for you.” 

“Well, it’s impolite to leave a girl waiting. Wouldn’t want to be late.” Laura let go of the thug’s arm and smacked her own hand on the back of his head, knocking him out cold. Laura looked towards the premiere. Everyone was beginning to head inside, and she could see Carmilla Karnstein, talking to Kirsch and her tape recorder. She smiled. At least Kirsch was getting her to answer Laura’s questions. She sighed. Her only chance to meet Carmilla had gone up in smoke, and she couldn’t believe it. 

“Worst timing ever!” she groaned to herself before taking off down the street, heading towards her apartment nearby. She definitely needed to change before she faced the Queen. The university was quite some distance away, and while the dress had finally become breathable, it wasn’t going to last long on dirty rooftops, and she was sure that Danny would be furious if she got it dirty. 

The small detour home didn’t take Laura as long as she thought. Danny had been called into the police station to help with some sort of prison transport, making it easier to get away with not explaining why she was home so early. Which was actually a good thing, due to the fact that the only excuse she had come up with was that she felt unwell, which would have backfired completely. The last time she tried that, Danny had insisted on taking care of her, forcing Laura to remain in bed and drink bowl after bowl of soup. Not even nice soup, it was some sort of kale soup that Danny’s grandmother swore was the ultimate cure for anything. Laura shuddered at the memory of it. 

She changed quickly, checking the equipment on her belt thoroughly and then burst out the window and off into the night. She was hoping that Kirsch had actually remembered to press the record button on her recorder this time, so that her only interaction with Carmilla Karnstein wasn’t lost forever, even if it was vicariously through someone else. Laura shook her head, leaping across the small gap between two buildings in front of her without hesitation. She couldn’t think about that right now. Now, she had to face the Queen. From what the thug had told her, the Queen was expecting her. This was so clearly a trap that Admiral Ackbar would be turning in his grave just to yell about it at her. But Laura fought against every instinct in her gut and kept running. The Queen wanted to play, and Laura hated to lose. 

After another hour of running on rooftops, she finally reached the edge of the university campus. The day had ended long ago, but the students were still going hard, with drunken shouts of glee coming from all directions. Another typical Friday night on campus. Laura smiled to herself, remembering her own university days; Crammed in a tiny room with another girl, fighting over lighting and wardrobe space, and most of all, her well thought out chore wheel. She had survived with minimal mental scaring. And now she was here again, about to walk into the world’s most obvious trap. She hopped from roof to roof, really sticking to the shadows so she didn’t draw the attention of any passersby. She didn’t want someone’s drunken shouting to alert anyone of her arrival. When Laura finally got to the abandoned house, she stopped and frowned as she inspected the place. The downstairs lights were on; dim but on. Laura huffed. She thought for a few moments, trying to think of her best way in. If her memory was correct, there was only one main entrance in, and unless a window was already open, she wasn’t going to get through those quietly. Seeing as the Queen knew she was coming, there was really no reason in trying to be sneaky. Maybe going through the front door was the way to go. Laura shrugged to herself. What could possibly go wrong?

Laura swung down from the roof with ease, turning and tumbling this way and that as she went. She dropped to the ground without making a sound and brought herself up to her, not so very tall, full height. She walked confidently towards the door, her eyes glancing at the window as she drew closer to the house. There was a figure moving around inside, but apart from that she couldn’t see much else, due to the curtain in the way. The butterflies began to form in Laura’s stomach, as the nerves and excitement began to build. As she drew even closer, her heart started to race, her muscles became tense and she was ready for whatever was behind that door. She kicked it open with al her might, causing it to almost fly off its hinges. She braced herself for the bullets, the punches, the screaming and the thugs that she was expecting to come flying at her. But none of that happened. Nothing flew out of her. This certainly wasn’t what she was expecting. And she most certainly wasn’t expecting the sound of smooth jazz and lit candles littering every surface. 

Laura paused, frozen in place, confused out of her mind. She took a cautious step forward, moving further into the house, before poking her head gingerly around the doorway to look at the elaborately decorated sitting room. She saw the Queen standing with her back to the doorway, a table laid out with silver plates and cutlery just behind her. The Queen turned slightly, her cape flowing a little, her helmet catching the candlelight a little, somehow making it appear darker. 

“You know, you could have just knocked,” The Queen said, her voice husky yet smooth, going impossibly deep due to the fact that it was being altered as well. Laura swallowed hard, moving slowly into the room, her head whipping this way and that, looking for trip wires or hidden nets. The Queen chuckled, turning around fully. The helmet gave very little away as to who was beneath it, apart from allowing her to see these deep brown eyes staring out at her. 

“You don’t have to worry about traps, cupcake. It would be too obvious, don’t you think?” 

“Says the villain that told me exactly where to find you.”

“Well, how else would you have made it here in time?”

“In time for what?” Laura asked, tilting her head a little to one side. At that moment, two thugs arrived with a full plate of food each and placed them gently on the table, one for each of the settings. 

“If you had been any later, this delightful meal would have gone cold and ultimately to waste.” The Queen said, taking the seat closet to herself, patiently waiting for Laura to do the same. But Laura’s mind wasn’t functional, and she just stood there, frozen with shock. 

“What the frilly hell is this?” was all she could force out of herself, and it ended up being a lot higher pitch than she had intended. The Queen gave off a low, quiet chuckle. 

“This is a chance for me to get to know you, that is all.”

“But… you’re a villain and I’m a hero. We don’t do dinner.” 

“Is that what you think of me?” The Queen asked, her tone making it seem like she was almost hurt by Laura’s remark. Laura took her seat slowly, but made no effort to eat the meal in front of her. 

“Well the first time I saw you, you were robbing a bank. That is standard ‘bad guy’ behavior.”

“Intimidation only pays the troops for so long. After a while, they demand payment a little more physical.”

“Or you know, you could just not have troops or thugs. Then no bank robbing would be required.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” she sneered, taking a sip of wine that Laura had no doubt was expensive and stolen. 

“Enough games, Queenie, what are your plans?” Laura demanded, bashing her hand on the table to try and scare her opponent. But the Queen simply sighed and leant back in her chair. 

“You are entirely too tightly wound, buttercup. I just wanted a simple chat.”

“No villain wants a simple chat with a hero.” Laura snapped, and the Queen nodded slowly.

“Sometimes we do want just that,” Laura frowned, and leaned forward, intrigued. This villain was like no one she had met before. Every other bad guy would have tried to kill her at least five times by now but not this one. Laura’s other arm came to rest on the table, making her lean in even closer. She saw the Queen’s eyes dart to it for a moment, and before she could even consider why that was she heard a click. The table erupted as two metal cuffs launched themselves out and over Laura’s wrists, locking her in place. Laura struggled, pulling and tugging at them but it was no use. The restraints were too tight, too strong. She gave a frantic look at the Queen, who had placed her boots onto the table, a smirk just about visible under her helmet. 

“But of course, most of the time, we just want to crush the little, brightly coloured, adorable hero.” 

“Oh when I get out of these cuffs you are so… wait, did you just say adorable?” Laura snarled, before becoming confused again, her curiosity not letting that last part go. The Queen paused (actually it was more like hesitating) before jumping up and sauntering over to Laura. 

“You are one of a kind, sundance, but you are meddling with my plans.”

“Well if I knew what they were, maybe I could stay out of your way.” 

“I don’t want you out of my way,” she chuckled, leaning in closer to Laura, “I want to continue this little waltz of ours. It might be fun. Regardless, you’d better buckle up, creampuff. Things are about to get real heated. It’s been a blast talking with you.” And with that, the Queen walked away. Laura heard her cackle to herself as she marched out the door, with the two thugs following her out, barely paying attention to Laura as they did. Her mind was racing and pondering the Queen’s last comment, and it was telling her one thing. There was a bomb, and it was going to go off soon. When she thought the Queen was gone, she pulled as hard as she could on the cuffs still holding her in place. The table gave a little, and she pulled harder, gritting her teeth against the pain, grunting a little to push herself on. Suddenly the table shattered and her hands broke free. She spun around and sprinted towards the door, throwing herself down the stairs as the heat of the explosion reached her before the bang did. The force of it knocked her to the ground, and she covered her head without thinking about it. When she thought it was safe she scrambled to her feet just in time to see a motorbike hurtling past her and down the path, the engine blaring loudly, wheels screeching horribly and a cape billowing out behind it. Laura looked back at the now almost completely destroyed house and sat down on the grass in front of it, breathing heavily. She was furious with herself. Not only did she get caught, handcuffed to a table and almost blown up, but she also didn’t learn anything about the Queen’s plans. 

“Well, that was not worth missing the premiere for at all.” She grumbled to herself as she forced herself to her feet and, with her tail between her legs and her ego thoroughly bruised, she headed home. 

***

The Queen pulled into the underground parking lot that she knew so well, and turned off the bike. She dismounted it in one swift movement, standing there for a moment, reveling in the silence that surrounded her. It didn’t last long. 

“Mother has been asking for you,” a smug voice said and she sighed. She pulled off her helmet, letting her hair tumble down onto her shoulders, ruffling it a little with one hand. 

“Haven’t you grown tired of being mama’s special little errand boy yet?” she hissed at him. The little errand boy laughed a little, clearly annoyed at her remark. 

“At least I stay on mission when I have one.” She shot him a fake smile as she walked up to him and then past him into the lift that would take her up to the floors above. Unfortunately for her, he made it in as well just before the doors closed. She prayed to every deity she could think of for him to not say a word. But as always, her prayers were ignored. 

“Keep this up kitty, and mother will demote you.”

“Aw, are you all alone at the lowly Jack status? Do you need a friend that badly?” she mocked him, speaking as one would when comforting a child. 

“If you get demoted, I’ll rise up and take your title. And your mission.”

“You couldn’t handle my mission.” She scoffed.

“Like taking over a city is hard.”

“You’d be surprised.” The Queen mumbled, thinking back to that heroine of hers. The Yellow Shield. Such a silly name for a silly child. And yet something was so intriguing about her. She had to know more about this sunflower heroine.

The lift opened to a dark room, that seemed to swallow the light that shone into it. She knew this room well, and had been here many times before. But a shiver still ran up her spine. She forced herself to take a step, and then another, and another, holding her head as high as she could. A light suddenly clicked on, and her step faulted a little, but she pushed herself on until she was stood in front of an ancient desk. 

“I expected you home hours ago,” a voice sounded out, calm and collected, “Where have you been?” 

“Just taking care of a few things, that’s all mother.” She said, her voice struggling not to break under her fear. 

“Did you destroy her?”

“Who?” Mother stopped what she was doing and looked up at her, staring her down.

“This heroine of Silas. The wretched little moppet that is threating our whole operation.” She snarled cruelly. 

“Oh her,” the Queen said, doing her best to act uninterested in the subject, “She is nothing, mother, we needn’t worry about her.”

“We cannot afford to take chances here, darling,” mother said, and her voice was drawing closer as she moved around the table, drawing closer to the Queen, “You know how important this all is to me.” The Queen shuffled from foot to foot, her gut twisting with fear.

“Of course I do mother. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, dear,” Just then, a sharp, sudden and freezing pain erupted in her arm, and she yelped, trying to yank her arm away, but mother was holding it too tightly. And then she let go, and the pain vanished with it, “Please deal with this… problem, my child, or I’ll be forced to intervene. And I know you don’t want me to do that. Not after last time.” Mother returned to the other side of the desk, ending the conversation, and the Queen bowed slightly before turning and marched as quickly as she could to the lift. When the doors let her in and then closed behind her, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She scowled. She had to get rid of the little wannabe heroine. She just had to. She looked at her arm, seeing the small ice burn her mother had left, letting her determination grow. The only problem was, she had no idea where to start. And she had an interview to prepare for.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Laura’s work lift opened, she scrambled out of it, rushing straight to Kirsch’s desk. She was walking so fast that a number of people actually jumped out of her way, and even Mel thought twice about stopping her to ask about that article Laura was meant to be editing. Kirsch looked up just in time to see her, and smiled.

“Hey, little hottie, what’s up?” 

“Kirsch, tell me that you recorded that interview with Carmilla Karnstein, or so help me, I’ll-”

“Woah, woah, calm down Laura, no need to get all threatening. I recorded it.” Kirsch pulled her tape recorder out of his shirt pocket and held it up for her. Laura let out a huge sigh of relief, and reached for it. But just before she could grab it, Kirsch flicked it back out of her reach. Laura frowned, confused and feeling a sense of anger build, her hand curling into a tight fist. Meanwhile, Kirsch shot her an evil smile. 

“Not so fast. I want something in return.” He said, smirking a little. 

“Kirsch, I don’t have the time, nor the patience, for games.”

“All I want, is to go to the game next Friday with Danny.” Laura let out a huge laugh before she realized he wasn’t joking. She gradually stopped, and cleared her throat. 

“Sorry, I thought you meant you wanted something reasonable, not impossible.”

“Look, all you have to do is tell Danny that I have a spare ticket to the game, and I want her to come. If it’ll sway her, say that I’ll be working so won’t even be talking to her that much.” 

“Fine I’ll tell her,” Laura said, yanking the recorder away from him, “Of course, she’ll probably say no.” 

“Just get her to call me, that’s all you have to do. I’ll win her over with my boyish charm.” Laura rolled her eyes.

“Alright, I’ll get her to call you. I owe you Kirsch.” She said, snatching the tape recorder out of his hands and she walked away, waving him goodbye. She couldn’t believe that in her hand she held the voice of Carmilla Karnstein. She was so giddy she could hardly stop herself from smiling. When she got to her desk, she immediately plugged the recorder into her computer, put on her headphones, and got her notebook ready. With slightly shaky hands, she pressed play. 

Laura heard the noise of the premiere in the background and the sounds of something rustling in the mic, and was suddenly concerned that Kirsch might have had this thumb over the microphone the whole time. But then she heard her voice.

“Are you sure that’s recording? I would hate for your friend to miss this,” she teased, her voice so husky and calming. Laura almost made a noise that would not have been suitable for the workplace. 

“Yeah I’m sure. And I really appreciate you doing this. Laura absolutely loves you.” This time Laura did gasp, her heart dropping, and her face turning beetroot red. She was so going to kill Kirsch for that. 

“Oh really?” she said, and Laura could practically hear her eyebrow raising in suspicion. 

“Oh yeah, but she had to leave early and so left it up to me to do the interview.”

“I’m sure I would much rather she do the questions.” Carmilla replied, and Laura almost squealed. 

“I mean, she would prefer that as well, I’m sure. Too bad she isn’t here though.” There was a pause, and Laura wasn’t sure if the recording stopped or she pressed pause by accident. 

“What did you say her name was?”

“Laura. Laura Hollis.” 

“Please tell Laura that I’ll come and see her tomorrow.” And then the recording stopped. Laura’s eyes widened. Did she hear that right? Was that really Carmilla Karnstein saying that she would see her tomorrow? Which meant today… which meant that… Laura ripped out her headphones and bolted out of her chair. And that’s when she came face to face with her. Carmilla Karnstein. Standing right there in front of her, looking down at her over the top of her cubicle wall. In fact, she was so close that Laura could almost feel her breath on her face. And that’s when Laura’s brain decided to break. 

“Wow, that Kirsch guy neglected to mention how adorable you are in person.” Carmilla said, a sly grin on her face. Laura’s cheeks began to blush and she scrambled to think of something, anything to say. But she really couldn’t pull herself together to even mention one word, due to the fact that she was too busy staring at the leather jacket and trousers she was wearing, and the motorbike helmet she had tucked under her arm. Carmilla laughed a little, tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand. 

“You okay there, Miss Hollis?” she asked again, and Laura shook her head a little, trying to get herself to think straight or at all for that matter. She walked around to actually stand in front of her, praying for her legs to remain standing. Oh, she could smell her perfume, and it smelt so good. 

Keep it together, Laura, she hissed at herself, flashing her best natural smile. 

“Hello Miss Karnstein. Kirsch actually didn’t tell me you were coming.” She said, thankful that her voice didn’t break, and held out her hand for her to shake. Carmilla laughed. 

“I’m guessing he’ll pay for that later.”

“You have no idea.” Laura mumbled as Carmilla took and shook her hand. Laura almost gasped at how soft her skin was. While Laura was busy trying to stay upright and remembering to breathe, she hadn’t realized how long the handshake had gone on for until Carmilla leaned in a little closer. 

“I know I’m famous and all, but if you could let go anytime time soon, that would be perfect.” Laura looked confused and then at their hands, before realizing what she was talking about and yanked her hand away, stammering an apology. 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. Let’s find a room for that interview, huh?” Laura walked briskly past her, heading towards the open conference room. Laura turned around a little to make sure Carmilla was following, but as she turned, her ankle twisted awkwardly, and she lost her balance completely. Even in her worst nightmares, she couldn’t have imagined that she would be falling in front of the Carmilla Karnstein. But here she was, doing just that. Laura felt herself falling, and she automatically reached out to grab something to stop herself, but it was too late. She hit the floor with a thud, knocking the wind out of her a little. She was about to spring to her feet when a huge weight fell on top of her, knocking the wind out of her for a second time. She opened her eyes and looked at what was on top of her. And of course, of course, the thing that she had used to try and stop herself from falling, was the hand of Carmilla Karnstein. Laura’s hand was wrapped around her wrist tightly and Carmilla was struggling to pull herself into a position to prop herself up. When she had regained some balance, Carmilla looked down at Laura, and Laura just stared back, unable to think over being so unbelievably embarrassed by what had happened. She felt her face begin to heat up, and just as she was about to either blurt out an apology or cry, Carmilla started to laugh. 

“You know, most girls at least buy me dinner before I end up on top of them.” She pushed herself up onto her knees, and then up onto her feet, before holding out a hand for Laura. Without thinking twice, she accepted it, and pulled herself up. 

“I am so sorry Miss Karnstein, I didn’t know… I mean I didn’t mean to do… well to do that.” 

“And by do that, do you mean fall down or pull me down with you?” Carmilla teased. 

“Both. I didn’t mean to do either of those things.” Laura could feel herself getting more and more flustered, but Carmilla just flashed her a calming smile. 

“It’s fine, cutie. Let’s continue with the interview, shall we?” Laura nodded and Carmilla walked into the conference room, casually placing her bike helmet on the table. Laura couldn’t believe what had just happened in the last 5 minutes. So far, she had not been told about an interview with the Carmilla Karnstein, held a handshake for way too long, fallen over and pulled her down on top of her. Laura groaned. She was totally screwing up this interview. But Laura was not going to run away from this. She was a Hollis. They faced danger head on, armed with bear spray. She could totally interview Carmilla. As long as she didn’t trip again, she would be perfectly fine. She hoped at least. And so, she marched in and sat down next to Carmilla, and in the most professional way she could muster, asked her first question. 

After an hour, Laura’s interview was going well. Carmilla seemed interested and eager to answer her questions, even the more unorthodox ones. But Laura was running out of questions to ask fast, and she really didn’t want to be. She didn’t want this to be over. She wanted to keep this interview going forever, just staring at Carmilla all the time, breathing in her sweet smelling perfume and daydreaming about the possibility of maybe, hopefully be able to one day remove those leather pants of hers… Laura shook her head. Those kinds of thoughts had been popping into her head all day. And while they were very interesting thoughts, she really did not appreciate them at that moment in time. Laura was jotting down an answer that Carmilla had said, when she noticed that Carmilla was staring at her, leaning back in her chair. 

“Are you alright, Miss Karnstein?” Carmilla chuckled. 

“Please, call me Carmilla.” 

“Carmilla,” Laura said, letting herself hear how it sounded. Carmilla smiled. 

“Well it’s only fair. After all, I have been on top of you already. I feel like we’ve reached that level of intimacy.” Laura felt herself blush a little. 

“Um, so Carmilla, what’s next for you?” 

“Well, at the moment, what’s next for me is to ask the pretty next to me out to dinner.” Laura wrote that down, then paused, re-read what she had written and looked up at the woman opposite her. 

“Wait what?” Carmilla leaned forward again, licking her lips and running a hand through her hair. 

“Laura, I would like you to go to dinner with me. And then perhaps, we could do a little stargazing, a little wine. I promise it’ll be fun.” Laura grinned and then burst out laughing. Carmilla raised an eyebrow at her, and Laura’s laughter died down as she realized she was the only one who found it funny. She cleared her throat. 

“Oh I’m so sorry, I thought you were joking.” 

“I never joke about a date, especially one that involves the possibility of stargazing. So, do you accept?” 

“Uh…” Laura’s mind drew a blank. Half of her wanted to accept the offer without a second thought, but the other half was being practical. There was no way Laura could date Carmilla. She couldn’t have her face associated with such a high profile person who was such an easy target in case anyone figured out she was the Yellow Shield. The sensible thing would be to say no. But then she saw Carmilla bite her lip a little and logic flew out the window. 

“Sure, why not?” Carmilla’s eyes lit up and she smiled while nodding to herself. 

“Great, so I’ll meet you at the restaurant? Let’s say, Donnatella’s at 7?” 

“That sounds perfect.” Laura stammered, and they both stood up. She went to collect her things, but Carmilla took a step closer to her, smirking slyly at her. Even with her combat boots, that Laura definitely didn’t notice, she was only a fraction taller than herself. Laura swallowed hard, barely able to breathe because of how close she was. 

“Alright then. See you tonight, Miss Hollis.” And with that she left, leaving Laura weak at the knees. She leant on the table for support, watching Carmilla leave through the glass, feeling her heart flutter as Carmilla looked back over her shoulder, smiling at her. When she was gone, Laura allowed herself to flop into the chair behind her and do a little victory dance to herself. She giggled. She had a date with THE Carmilla Karnstein. She looked at her watch. 11 am. She had so many hours between now and the date. Better start planning what she was going to wear. 

 

When Danny came home, she was barely able to walk through the door before being ambushed by an overly excited Laura. She has almost bouncing off the walls she was so excited. Danny couldn’t help but laugh. 

“My god Laura, what on earth is up with you?” Laura took in Danny for a moment before planting herself on the arm of the sofa hard, looking off into the distance as she did. 

“Oh Danny, you have no idea.” 

“Well, I might have some if you tell me,” she said, hanging up her coat and hat, before letting her hair down from its tight bun and loosening her tie. She couldn’t help but smile at the goofy grin that was plastered on Laura’s face. 

“She appeared at my office today. For an interview.” She said, her voice full of hopes and dreams. 

“Who did?”

“Carmilla Karnstein.” 

“Wait, what?” Danny said, her heart dropping a little. Why was Carmilla Karnstein at Laura’s work?

“And then she asked me out on a date.” 

“What?!” Danny said, and Laura flopped backwards onto the sofa, giggling, “Wait, wait, wait… so the Carmilla Karnstein, the actress that you have been dying to meet, just happened to stumble into your office, and asked you on a date, even though you’ve never met her before?” 

“Kirsch set up an interview between herself and me at the premiere, and then she actually showed up, and then after the interview she asked me for a date, and I said yes.” Danny just stood there, looking down at a giddy and giggling Laura, who was still in her work clothes, blushing and all. She rolled her eyes. 

“Let me take off my uniform, and lock away my gun before I forget, and then get a stiff drink before you tell me more about this interview.” Danny headed into her room, placing her weapon in the safe and badge on the dresser, before beginning to take off her uniform. 

“Okay, now that you are unarmed, I have to ask you to perform probably the biggest favour of our friendship.” 

“Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be incredibly bad for me?” 

“Kirsch wants me to tell you that you are to call him because he has a spare ticket to the game next Friday and wants you to go. With him.” 

“Are you kidding me?!”

“You heard me, call Kirsch.” 

“Laura, I repeat, are you kidding me?! I’m going to bring the gun back out.” 

“Please Danny? He set all this up, and I owe him and I can’t have that hanging over my head. He said that if it helps, he’ll be working and won’t even talk to you.” Laura whined at her, and Danny huffed.

“You’re killing me Hollis. Fine, I’ll call him and go to his stupid game.” Laura ran up and gave her a huge hug, squeezing as tight as she could. 

“Did I ever tell you that you are not only the best officer but also the best friend ever?” 

“Once or twice.” Danny said, hugging the small human back, unable to shake the thought of how good she felt against her. 

“Okay, I need to get ready. I owe you Danny, big time!” she called out as she rushed out of the room.

“Yeah you really do, Hollis. You’ll be owing me for the rest of your life!” she called back, watching the tiny girl disappear into her own room. Danny shook her head. Great. Laura was going on a date with the sexy, leather wearing, very attractive Carmilla Karnstein. Danny just hoped that she was a horrible person in real life, otherwise she would lose Laura forever. And she wasn’t ready for that at all. 

 

Laura ran a nervous hand through her hair again, looking both ways before crossing the road. She had only been to Donnatella’s once before, but if her memory was correct, it was an overly priced, overly fancy restaurant. The perfect place for a celebrity, but not the place for Laura at all. She would much prefer a place where she could wear her owl sweater and fuzzy pyjama pants. But nevertheless, here she was, in another one of her fancy dresses. This time, it was a deep navy, one of her favourites. Mostly because, it was loose enough so that she could breathe easily. And tonight, that was the most important thing if she didn’t want to pass out from being too close to Carmilla, due to the fact that she couldn’t breathe. Although when she saw the woman in question, she wasn’t sure that even a loose dress was going to help with that. 

Carmilla was leaning against the pillar that housed the doors to the restaurant. The leather trousers were still there, but this time, she was sporting a tight, black, strapless corset. She had one leg against the pillar, her hands behind her back and a thoughtful expression on her face. From this angle, Laura could clearly see the sharpness of her chin, and didn’t get much further due to the fact Carmilla flicked her hair to one side and out of her eyes, and Laura gasped a little. She cleared her throat, steeling herself. She could do this. It was just a date… with a girl… who was Carmilla Karnstein. She could totally do this. 

Laura walked up to Carmilla, and felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw her, and smiled a little. 

“You look lovely tonight, Miss Hollis.”

“Yeah well… I’m not the one in a corset, which… wow.” Carmilla laughed.

“You flatter me. Shall we?” Carmilla gestured to the door, and Laura nodded eagerly, wanting to sit down quickly before her nerves got the better of her. It had only just occurred to her that she hadn’t had a lot of dating experience. What were they going to talk about? Were they just going to sit in silence the entire time? What was expected at the end? By the time Laura had even begun to think about the first question, a waitress was showing them to their table, and Carmilla was holding out a chair for her. 

“Wow, I never pegged you for a gentlewoman.” Laura said, more to herself than to Carmilla. 

“Really? How did you think I’d behave?” she asked, taking her own seat on the opposite side of the rather small table. 

“Oh, it’s nothing really. I’ve just heard some rumours.”

“Being a journalist, I would be surprised if you hadn’t.” she said as if it were a fact, smiling kindly to the waitress as she handed them some menus and poured each of them a glass of wine. Laura didn’t know wine, but when she took a small sip, she knew instantly it was expensive and delicious. 

“As a journalist, I should know better than to believe such unreliable sources.” Laura joked, smiling uncontrollably at Carmilla’s laugh. 

“Well, unfortunately, when it comes to me, those rumours may be true. I wasn’t always the gentlewoman I am today.” 

“No, not if the stories of your parties in Milan are true,” Laura joked again, but this time, Carmilla didn’t laugh. In fact, there was a hint of regret, of sadness on her face that instantly caught Laura’s attention, “Oh God, those are all true, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” Carmilla said through her teeth, clearly annoyed at the memory of those rumours. 

“Wow… well that’s all in the past. I won’t mention it if you don’t,” Laura said, and Carmilla looked at her, at first confused but then grateful. 

“It’s a deal, Miss Hollis.” She said, a smile on her face. They let the sounds of the restaurant grow louder as they fell into a silence. But neither of them felt it was awkward or uncomfortable. In fact, Laura never felt more comfortable with someone she barely knew. And from the way Carmilla was staring at her, it was clear she felt the same. Laura cleared her throat, breaking the silence. 

“So, what would you like to talk about?” she asked, mentally kicking herself. What kind of a dumb question was that?

“Well, seeing as my life is all over the tabloids, how about we talk about you?”

“Me? Oh, there’s not much to tell, really.”

“I doubt that very much,” she murmured to herself, leaning back in her chair, swirling the wine in her glass a little, “Let’s start with how you got into journalism.” 

“It was my just something I always wanted to do,” Laura said shrugging, but unable to stop herself from smiling, “My dad says that ever since I could talk I wanted to know the truth, and I would never stop until I found it. And then when I got to college, my professor kept telling me how I could be one of the best. So, I followed my heart and now, here I am… editing sports articles. Because that’s exactly what I wanted to be doing,” Laura grumbled the last part, feeling herself tense up with anger. Carmilla chuckled a little.

“Yeah I can see that,” she said, leaning forward again, “So if you edit sports, how did you end up interviewing me?” 

“That was all thanks to my boss actually. He is using it as my audition to start writing on my own.” 

“Remind me to send him my own personal thanks.” They laughed at that. The waitress took their order, and Laura tried not to think about how far this meal was going to set her back, and really tried not to think about how little she was going to be eating for the next month. 

“Well that’s enough about me.” Laura said, pushing some of her hair behind her ear nervously.

“Oh, it’s nowhere near enough about you. What about family, friends, hobbies, ambitions… I want to know everything.”

“Aren’t I allowed to keep somethings a mystery?” Laura teased, and Carmilla raised an eyebrow, smirking a little.

“For now.” Laura felt herself flush. Carmilla Karnstein wanted to know about her. Of course, she wasn’t going to reveal everything; announcing to someone she was a masked heroine on the first date wasn’t advisable. 

“Um… well my family live in the next city over, so they aren’t too far away. They are way too protective of me, but they finally let me leave the house when I was 16,” Carmilla laughed at her joke, allowing Laura to relax more, “I went to university in Silas, where I met my roommate, Danny. She was my professor’s TA and that’s how we met.”

“Is she still your roommate?”

“Yeah, we rent a small apartment together, but she’s barely home. She’s a police officer, but very close to making detective.”

“She must be very brave to face danger every day.” Laura couldn’t but notice the hint of annoyance and envy in Carmilla’s voice. Laura shrugged.

“Danny can take care of herself. And Silas is a pretty safe place, so I’m not worried about her.” She couldn’t help but wonder what Carmilla would say if she knew what Laura got up to at night. Carmilla was staring at Laura, but her eyes were glazed over, like she was thinking about something else. Laura felt herself staring back, wondering what could be occupying her thoughts. Before she could think of anything, Carmilla shook her head, bringing herself back to reality. 

“Don’t think you’re going to get out of telling me more by distracting me with the stories of your friends.” Laura laughed a little, leaning on the table, careful to keep her arms off the surface this time. 

“Tell me, Miss Karnstein,” she said, as slyly as she could, “what more would you like to know?”

 

The rest of the evening went smoothly, and Laura couldn’t believe it. Carmilla had been a perfect date, and Laura hadn’t fallen over, so it was going well for her. After the dinner, and a lot of discussion over who was going to pay, they decided to stroll through the park on the way back to Laura’s apartment. When Laura asked how Carmilla was going to get home, she just looked at her slyly and said nothing. The park was empty, aside from a few dog walkers here and there, but they didn’t take much notice of the two girls who were walking around, staring at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Before they had even begun their walk though, they arrived at Laura’s apartment, and she felt her heart sink. She didn’t want this to be over. But she also didn’t want to be too forward and invite her up, especially as she didn’t know if Danny was home. 

So instead, the two of them just stayed standing outside the door, neither one of them wanting to say goodbye. Laura shuffled from foot to foot, unsure how to say goodnight. 

“So, we’ve had dinner, we’ve walked through a park and enjoyed some pleasant conversation.”

“Yeah it’s been a great evening.” Laura said, feeling herself move slightly closer to Carmilla. The space between them was unbearable, the tension so strong that Laura couldn’t breathe. She had been right; a looser dress made no difference. Carmilla smirked, and leant forward a little.

“I feel like this date is missing something though.” She said, her voice going husky, and she bit her bottom lip. Laura swallowed hard, unable to take her eyes off of it. Without realizing what she was doing, she licked her lips, hoping that Carmilla was thinking the same thing. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait long. Carmilla leaned in closer still, so close that Laura could feel her breath on her face, and she couldn’t stand it. Without waiting another moment, Laura closed the back, and her senses exploded with pleasure as they kissed. She felt arms wrap around her, and she echoed their moments, her own hands slipping around Carmilla’s neck and up into her hair. She felt a groan of pleasure vibrate on her lips a little, and her movements became harsher, hungry to have her produce that sound again. Carmilla’s hands were running up and down Laura’s back, brushing over her side, making Laura lose all feeling in her legs. Her body began to grow warm and hot, eager for more. And that’s when she heard a car going past, and remembered where they were. Slowly she pulled back, her lips still tingling, and looked at Carmilla. They were both panting, both out of breath, and both still holding onto each other. Carmilla smiled, and reached for Laura’s hands, giving them a final squeeze. Laura cleared her throat.

“So um… I’ll text you tomorrow then. Goodnight.” 

“Yeah…” Carmilla said to herself, as she watched the tiny, adorable, dorky girl whirl around and almost sprint into her building, before touching her lips gently with one hand, unable to stop her smile at the memory of what had just happened, “Tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: I very quickly edited this, so sorry if there are any mistakes. hope everyone's having a good day :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look at that finally an update! sorry this took so long, i've been busy recently. hope you enjoy this little update.

Laura was perched on a rooftop, watching the world below her go by. She felt her hair being whipped around more violently than usual, and she quickly pulled it back into a ponytail, sighing a little. This was the total opposite of what she wanted to be doing. It had been a few days since her date with Carmilla, and she wanted to see her again so badly. After all, Carmilla had promised her star gazing, and Laura was going to make sure she kept that promise. Her phone vibrated in her belt and she took it out, certain it was just her father wishing her luck. But when she saw who it was, she instantly couldn’t control her smile, beaming at her phone.

 _I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s highly distracting._ Carmilla texted. Laura bit her lip a little, grinning uncontrollably.

 _Well you’re very distracting as well, Miss Karnstein,_ she fired back, waiting anxiously for a reply. She didn’t have to wait long.

 _I’m trying to work, Miss Hollis. It would be greatly appreciated if I knew if you were interested in another date or not._ Laura’s cheeks were starting to hurt because of how much she was smiling.

_Will there be stargazing this time?_

_If you would like._

_Than yes, I am very interested in another date_ , Laura replied, before adding, _I have to go now. Text me the details later._ She was about to put her phone away when it vibrated one last time.

 _I will. See you later cutie._ And that was it. Laura giggled a little as she tucked her phone back into its pouch. She was going on a second date with Carmilla. And she couldn’t wait.

 

Laura was on that rooftop a lot longer than she had planned to be. She was just about to leave, when she spied a group of The Queen’s thugs walking down the street, laughing and joking with each other as they went. Laura kept an eye on them as they went into the pub opposite, and that’s where they had stayed for the past three hours. But Laura wasn’t going to give up. They were clearly in there for a reason, and she was going to find out what. But she was getting tired of having to stand up constantly to stretch out her cramping legs. Being perched in one position for so long was not good for her legs at all. It was on one of these stretches that she saw the thugs leaving, no longer laughing, and each of them carrying a very large, very suspicious black duffel bag. They walked to the pavement and didn’t have to wait long before a black van pulled up, and they all piled in. The van started to drive away, and Laura chased after it, only taking her eyes off of it when she reached the edge of a building. She kept good pace with it; it wasn’t driving particularly fast, and wasn’t racing to beat the red lights. It was at one of these red lights, both parties waiting patiently for it to change, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She snapped her head towards it, and her heart sank a little. She knew what that fireball rising into the sky meant. It took a while for the sound of the explosion to reach her, but when it did, Laura knew she had to go to it immediately. The Queen could wait; someone could need her help. And so, she tore away, heading straight towards the ever-growing flames in the sky, praying that she wasn’t going to be too late.

 

Laura reached the explosion site in no time, dropping to the ground with ease. She looked up at the burning building, and gasped. She had never seen something like it. The flames were licking up the sides of the building, consuming and hungry for everything in its path. The heat was so intense that she could feel it from where she stood; Laura couldn’t imagine how bad it was inside. She could hear the groaning of stressed wood and instinctively took a step back. She had never been good with fire. Not since she was younger. But this wasn’t the time to be afraid. She looked up at the building, trying to see if there was anyone inside, hoping they would be calling for help. However, all Laura could see was a number of blown out windows and the building sign. Laura frowned at the sign. This was a place she knew, but from where, she had no idea. She heard a commotion beside her and looked to see two people getting out of a black sedan, dazed and confused, and horrified at the sight of the fire. That’s when she saw their badges and guns. She frowned again. What were police doing here? And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. This was a police safe house. One that Danny had had paperwork for. One that was housing one of the biggest crime lords in Silas before his trial. He was going to name a whole load of names of players in the game, and basically wipe away most of the drug scene within the area. And now, his safe house was going up in flames.

 

Laura bolted forward. She had to make sure he got out alive. She didn’t want to save a crime lord, but she had to; she had to make sure he lived so others could be brought down. Just as she reached the door however, it flew open, knocking her backwards and flying onto the ground. She kicked her feet over her head, allowing the momentum to carry her into a backwards roll and onto her feet again, snapping her head up to look towards the now open door. She couldn’t believe it. There was the Queen, striding elegantly and forcefully towards her, her cape smoking a little, her brown eyes full of fire.

“Sundance… It’s been a while.” She chuckled a little, hardly surprised Laura was there. Laura jumped into a defensive position, noting how there were suddenly 4 thugs backing up the Queen.

“Not long enough.” She snapped back, taking another step back, never dropping her guard. She heard the Queen laugh loudly again, matching every step Laura took backwards with a step towards her, becoming more powerful with each step.

“I’m sorry our last meeting ended so abruptly, that was rude of me.”

“You almost killed me!”

“Can you blame a villain for trying?” Laura snarled a little, eyeing up the thugs, who were all training guns on her. She was running out of options. She had to distract the Queen, make her slip up, allow for the police to arrive. She had to do something, and fast.

“Why did you set the safe house on fire?” The Queen smirked slyly and stopped walking, seemingly uninterested in the topic.

“It’s occupant was in my way. And I don’t like people in my way.”

“You must hate me then.” Laura teased, making a battle plan in her head.

“Actually buttercup, I rather like you. After all, without you, this would be all too easy. And where’s the fun in that?” Before Laura could continue the banter further, she heard the familiar sounds of sirens, a mix of fire and police. Now it was her to smile.

“You might want to start running, Queenie. I hear the police are in a foul mood after you kill a key witness.” The Queen looked towards the first of the police cars rounding the corner and came barreling down the road. But instead of running, she just looked back at Laura.

“On the contrary, little flower,” she said, “They are the ones that should be running.” At that moment, a bang and hiss went off and suddenly a plume of smoke erupted out of a window, and something whistled towards the squad car. The rocket exploded underneath it, launching it into the air. It flipped over and over in the air, and then a few more times once it came hurtling to the ground again. Laura could barely register what happened as more police cars came squealing around the corner, and suddenly thugs were emerging from the shadows, and firing their guns. Bullets and glass were flying everywhere, and the cars went sliding left and right as they all tried to dodge the ambush. Laura didn’t think twice. She sprinted forward, tackling the thug closest to her, hitting him just behind his ear, knocking him out cold. The police were starting to adjust, and were now ready, their own guns drawn and firing back. Laura took out a few more thugs, but more suddenly appeared, and suddenly she was surrounded.

 

Laura looked at the small circle of men around her, and smiled a little. She was going to enjoy this. The first one sprang at her, and she noticed straight away how he favoured his left leg. So she kicked his right knee hard with the heel of her foot. He yelped loudly and went sprawling on the ground, but Laura couldn’t celebrate. The next one was coming, a knife drawn and eager to use it. She dodged him just in time, knocking his hand away before unleashing a few punches to his gut, before gripping his wrist and pushing his elbow the wrong way. His legs gave away from under him as his arm exploded in pain. 2 down, 4 to go. One good punch to the jaw ended other one. 3 to go. Laura used all her strength and wrenched his arm out of his shoulder socket. Only 2 now. They looked at each other, then at Laura, clearly trying to decide what to do. One suddenly went for his gun, but Laura was faster. She had her baton unclipped and open before he could even aim, and she smacked him hard in the throat, and then again over his head. He was out cold before he hit the floor. She spun around, ready to take down this last thug, to find he was already on the floor, holding his leg. She cocked her head to one side, and then heard a voice she knew all too well.

“Drop the baton! Now!” Danny called out, her gun aimed directly at Laura. Laura turned to her slowly, trying not to let it slip that she knew her.

“You don’t want to be pointing that thing at me,” she said calmly, “I’m on your side.”

“Yeah? Well why don’t you do what I say, and show me how we’re on the same side?” Laura gritted her teeth. If Danny shot her, she wouldn’t be able to hide her identity for long. But if she did what she was told, chances are that Danny would arrest her, and she’d find out either way. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw movement, and turned her head a little. The Queen was suddenly a lot closer, just walking through a hail of gunfire, not even flinching. She raised her arm, aiming her gun directly at Danny. Who hadn’t noticed her at all. Danny was going to be shot. Without thinking Laura charged forward, grabbing hold of Danny and pushing her down a little, holding her close. Holding one arm out, she clenched her fist in just the right way, and braced herself for the recoil. Out of her gauntlet shot two panels of light, blinding her for a split second. The yellow shield hummed with life, covering most of Laura and Danny. As each bullet hit it, Laura had adjust her stance, bracing for the next one to hit, listening to the way the shield absorbed them with ease. She could just about see through the glow, and saw the Queen lower her arm, so she did the same, her eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness. The Queen’s head was cocked to one side a little, nodding slightly.

“I get it now,” she breathed out, before shaking her head a little, and giving a small wave with her free hand, “Sorry to dash again, creampuff, but I have other places to be. See you around.” And she darted into the back of a waiting van, and it tore down the street, it’s tires squealing as they went. Laura huffed. This Queen really did have a bad habit of leaving before the party was over. Once day however, she wasn’t going to have such a good escape plan.

 

Laura looked down at Danny, who was staggering to her feet, staring at her.

“How did you…” she said weakly, but Laura wasn’t going to stick around to wait for her to finish. She turned to leave, but Danny grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“Let me go,” Laura hissed, trying to free herself, but Danny’s grip was surprisingly strong.

“I shot you twice, how are you not hurt?” Laura frowned, confused. Then she looked down, and saw two bullet sized holes in her suit; one on her stomach and one on her chest. She groaned, mostly because she was going to have to go to her grandparents for repairs.

“I just have really good armour.” She mumbled, finally breaking free and sprinting into the nearest alleyway, and up onto the roofs. She needed to get home before Danny. She had to.

 

Danny watch the figure go, so many questions buzzing around her head.

“You let that vigilante go? What the hell Lawrence?” her chief asked, getting right in her face, which was hard to do since he was a good 2 inches shorter than her. She stared him down, doing her best to ignore the fact that she had almost died tonight, like she did every time something bad happened.

“She saved my life. The least I could do is not arrest her.” Her chief scowled at her, and then huffed.

“Fine. But if you encounter her again, you are to take her down, do you understand me?” when Danny nodded he ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “I have enough to worry about. We’re all going to be doing paperwork for months and press will be having a field day.” He walked away, grumbling to himself. Danny however wasn’t listening. She was too busy focusing on the person that had just saved her. The Yellow Shield. She frowned, thinking. She knows she had seen that person before. Everything about her seemed so familiar. She took a deep breath, and suddenly it hit her. She knew that scent, that perfume. After all, she had been smelling it every day for years. She slumped against her police car. No. it couldn’t be Laura. Thousands of people must wear that perfume. It couldn’t be Laura. Could it?

 

Laura tried to sneak into her room as quietly as she could, panting hard from running so fast. Normally she would have paced herself, but she had to make it look like she hadn’t been out. She had to. After that encounter with Danny, she couldn’t draw any attention to herself. After all, Danny was smart enough that a simple mask wouldn’t hide her identity. Yet still, she hoped against hope that it would be enough. But she knew it hadn’t been enough. She knew as soon as her lights flicked on, and she whipped around to see Danny leaning against the doorway, her expression cold and stern, barely looking at her.

“You know,” she mumbled slowly, as Laura took off the mask, feeling nothing but defeat and shame in her heart, “I really didn’t want it to be true.”

“Danny, I-”

“Has it always been you? Have you honestly been lying to me since the first time we met?” Danny demanded, angry now very clear in her voice. Laura couldn’t answer. She’d been the yellow shield since she was a teenager; Lying was second nature to her at this point. Danny took her silence for exactly what it meant, and nodded slowly.

“As if I didn’t have enough to worry about. Now I have to worry for you to.” She mumbled, and Laura frowned.

“Wait, worry about me?”

“You expect me to be okay with you running head first into danger every night? It’s my job to protect you!”

“It’s you job?” Laura snarled, taking a step towards her, anger now rising fast, “Your job is to protect this city, not me!”

“Laura I care about you, of course it’s my job to keep you safe, so yes I’m going to worry about you!” Laura shoved past Danny into the lounge, running a hand through her hair, barely believing what she was hearing.

“I don’t need you to worry about me. I already have an overprotective father, I don’t need that from you to! I don’t need your protection! I’ve doing great on my own so far, and I like it that way. So you can keep your worry to yourself, cause I don’t want to hear it.” The apartment fell into a deafening silence, as neither of them could think of another thing to say. Finally Danny cleared her throat.

“Laura I’m sorry, it’s just… a shock that’s all.” Laura groaned, suddenly very tired.

“Look let’s just… go to bed. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Danny nodded and Laura stormed into her room, slamming her door shut. She didn’t really have a right to be angry at Danny; she was the one who was careless, who got caught in the act. But she couldn’t, wouldn’t, have another person in her life that wanted to keep her locked in a room to keep her safe. She was too angry to talk it through now. She needed to sleep. Laura undressed quickly, crawling into bed, trying to block out the remaining sirens, and trying not to think about how she was going to have to explain how Danny shot her twice and she was perfectly fine.


	6. Chapter 6

When Laura woke up the next morning, she immediately groaned, slamming her eyes shut and willing with all her might to go back to sleep. She didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want to face the day. More specifically, Laura didn’t want to have that conversation with Danny. She couldn’t believe Danny had found out. How did she even know? Laura had always been so careful; where did she go wrong? There was a small knock on her door, and Laura rolled over, shoving a pillow over her head. She heard her door open, slowly and carefully, and she could feel Danny staring at her, even from under the safety of her pillow. Laura remained hidden, hoping that Danny would think she was still asleep and leave her alone. But as usual, Laura wasn’t that lucky.

“We need to talk Laura. There’s no use hiding under there.” Laura huffed, but came out from under her safety pillow, and sat up, looking at Danny. Something was off. She wasn’t angry or upset anymore. She looked so scared, frightened almost. It was a strange look.

“If you’re here to yell at me some more, I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m not going to yell at you,” Danny said quietly, taking a step forward gingerly, unsure of Laura’s reaction, “I just wanted to apologise for my outburst yesterday. I was just… taken by surprise and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“Well… thank you. I mean, I can understand your anger, I did lie to you for years. Actually, I’m surprised at the lack of destruction on your part.”

“I thought about it, but plates are expensive and we’re already down to three.” They both chuckled, but the air was thick with unspoken words, and they both shuffled a little, neither one knowing what to say.

“Look Danny, I get it. It’s dangerous what I do, and you do have a right to worry, as a friend. But I won’t stop what I’m doing.” 

“I worry not only because what you’re doing is extremally dangerous, but… Laura, you have the entire police force trying to arrest you. Do you realise what kind of a position this puts me in?”

“Why do you think I didn’t tell you before? Look I’ve been doing this a long time. One could say I was born for this. So please, please Danny, just be okay with this?” Danny was silent for a few moments, her mind racing. Then she sighed heavily.

“Fine, but you’d better tell me where you’re going every night, just in case.” Laura squealed, leaping out of bed and hugging her, hard. Danny laughed before hugging back. “Well at least your crushing hugs finally make sense.” Laura pulled back, beaming.

“You truly are the best friend ever.”

“I know,” she said confidently, echoing Laura’s smile.

“As a reward, I’m going to make pancakes.”

“Oh Laura, you don’t have to do that. I have to go to work soon.”

“I’ll make bacon as well.” Laura sang as she sprinted out of her room to the kitchen. Danny’s eyes widened with joy.

“Well in that case, how can I say no?” she couldn’t contain her excitement at the thought of pancakes as she scurried out after Laura, her mouth watering at the mere thought of them.

 

Laura waited patiently until Danny had a huge mouthful of pancake before clearing her throat.

“So I need another favour from you.” Danny almost choked with surprise before shooting Laura a death glare.

“I’m still in the middle of the last few favours you’ve asked me to do, or have you forgotten? Firstly that sports game with Kirsch and now this secret of you being a vigilante?”

“This benefits both of us, I promise. And if this actually works, then there’ll probably be a promotion in it for you. You will finally be off the streets and into a detective role.”

“I’m listening.” Danny said suspiciously, after a moment of thinking.

“I need you to find out as much about the Queen of Clubs as you can. And then I need you to tell me everything you find.”

“Laura that’s no small ask.”

“I know. But either you tell me the things you find out or I find out myself. Which would you prefer?” Danny thought about it for a few moments, her jaw clenching and unclenching, before she finally ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

“Fine. But you better not try and leave me out of the loop. If we find out enough to arrest this crazy bitch then you call me and we do it by the book.”

“Deal.” Laura said, taking another bite of her own breakfast.

“I do have one question though.” Danny said again, causing Laura to pause on her breakfast eating.

“Go for it.”

“I shot you… twice last night. How are you not… injured?”

“Oh that. Well part of my… let’s say power is having super tough skin. It can’t be hurt by bullets or knives.” Danny nodded, thinking that through.

 

Just then, Laura’s phone dinged beside her, and she picked it up, looking at the notification.

_Morning cutie, are you free for that date tonight?_ The text from Carmilla read, and Laura grinned uncontrollably.

“That Carmilla?” Danny asked, something heavy in her voice that Laura couldn’t identify.

“Yes. She’s asking for a second date.”

“Is it really such a good idea to be dating someone to high profile? I mean, since you are… you know?” Laura sighed heavily.

“No it’s not. But I’ll be extra careful.” “Laura, I don’t think-” “Please Danny, just drop it okay? At the first sign of trouble I’ll say it’s over with Carm, alright? But please, just let me enjoy this for now.” Danny sighed, but continued eating her breakfast in silence, not saying another word on the subject. Laura turned her attention back to her phone, pushing all thoughts of how badly this could end from her mind.

_Good morning, and I most certainly am free. When and where should we meet?_ Laura could barely take another bite before Carmilla replied.

_The park, by the fountain, 8pm. See you there._ Laura chuckled to herself. By the fountain? How cliché. She was going to enjoy tonight.

 

Laura checked her watch for the 9th time since she arrived at the fountain. It was still ten to 8. Sighing with frustration and a new bundle of nerves, she looked at the fountain. She had walked past it countless times before but she had never actually looked at it before. It was a beautiful piece, with a number of nymphs around the edge, pouring water into the main section, laughing and giggling with each other. She cocked her head a little to one side, a ghost of a smile on her face. She heard the sound of someone behind her and spun around, half out of curiosity, half out of fear. But her guard dropped as soon as she saw Carmilla walking up behind her, a sly smile on her face.

“Well don’t you look like a virgin sacrifice?” she said, her voice huskier than usual. Laura however, just rolled her eyes.

“Do you always use your own film lines to hit of people?” Carmilla laugh and shrugged a little, coming to a stop directly in front of Laura, so close she was almost touching her. Almost.

“Only when it’s appropriate. Also, I’m very impressed you knew that reference.”

“Well I did have to research you for the interview.” Laura said shyly, feeling her cheeks flush and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Carmilla licked her lips a little, and that was all Laura could focus on, her mind going back to their first kiss, and how soft those lips had felt on hers. Carmilla held out her hand towards Larua, inviting her to take it.

“Come on cutie,” she said, “the stars aren’t going to wait forever.” Laura didn’t even hesitate. She eagerly grabbed Carmilla’s hand and quickly moved so they were walking side by side. But Carmilla didn’t appear to be in any rush. Instead, she slowly lead Laura through the park with ease, not even checking if they were going in the right direction. Laura had assumed that star gazing had meant they would sit in the park somewhere, looking up at an almost black sky. But Carmilla, despite her slow pace, wasn’t looking around for a space. Laura just became more confused when they suddenly reached the path that lead to the car park.

“We’re going to star gaze in the car park?” Laura asked, not realizing that she had said it out loud. Carmilla laughed.

“No Laura. Just be patient.” Laura made a face. She hated being patient for surprises. As a rule, she disliked them. But something about Carmilla made it feel safe, made her feel safe. She had no idea what it was, but whatever it was, it made her not care that she had no idea where she was going. Carmilla lead Laura through the car park, weaving in and out of the cars that were still parked there. Eventually she came to a stop and Laura’s heart quickened. It was Carmilla’s motorcycle. Her actual motorcycle. Carmilla picked up her own helmet then produced another one, holding it out for Laura.

“Do you trust me?” she asked, the tone of her voice challenging Laura to say yes. Laura nodded, taking the helmet from her quickly and put it on. It fit surprisingly well. Carmilla did the same before swinging a leg over the bike. Laura copied her, easing herself onto the patch of seat behind Carm. Carmilla revved the engine loudly, and Laura could feel the machine rumble in her chest every time. It was a powerful sensation, but she had no time to get used to it, because Carmilla had put the bike into gear and took off through the carpark and then out onto the street. She didn’t drive particularly fast, but it was fast enough that they had to maneuver around the few cars that were still out on the street. Laura held onto the girl in front of her tightly, partly out of fear, but also to just be closer to her. Laura had driven plenty of motorbikes; after all, they were easy to pursue cars in. But she had rarely been a passenger, rarely been out of control. Normally she would be begging Carmilla for her to drive, but she hadn’t been lying before. She did trust her. Which was strange; this was only their second date after all. And for the first time in a long time, it didn’t scare her at all.

Eventually Carmilla started to slow down, and then came to a complete stop. Laura got off first, pulling off her helmet and adjusted her hair. She knew it was hopeless; no one could fix their hair after it had been in a helmet. She looked at Carmilla just as she took of her own helmet, and flicked her hair effortlessly, watching as it fell into place perfectly. Okay, maybe a few people could withstand the dreaded helmet hair. Carmilla quickly locked up the bike, then took Laura’s hand again before leading her towards a huge building nearby. Laura had never been to this part of town; she had been meaning to, but having two jobs did keep her pretty busy. Carmilla however, seemed to know her way around perfectly, pushing open a set of doors without stopping. A man behind the front desk stood up sharply before smiling kindly.

“Good evening Miss Karnstein. The viewing room is empty for your appointment.”

“Thank you, Chris. How long do we have it for?” she asked, flashing a dazzling smile his way. But he didn’t seem to take any notice of it, and simply echoed it.

“You’re the last appointment so however long you wish. Enjoy your stay.” Carmilla said her thanks, before leading Laura down a corridor, up a set of stairs and through another corridor. She finally opened a door, and held it open for Laura to walk through. When she did, Laura saw a huge room, covered in comfortable looking chairs that were angled backwards by quite a lot, with an open area at the bottom and some sort of speaking podium.

“Carm, what is this place?” Laura asked, moving further into the room. Carmilla however, only gave her a sly grin before walking down the stairs that lead to the open area, throwing her jacket to one side, revealing that the top she was wearing was completely open at the back. Without stopping, Carmilla began pushing buttons on the podium and suddenly the room descended into darkness, making Laura panic for a moment. But before she could do anything, the ceiling erupted in a brilliant display of images. Laura looked up, barely able to take in what she was seeing.

“You can’t see many stars in a city,” Carmilla said softly, producing a bottle of champagne and two glasses from somewhere, “There’s way too much light pollution, we wouldn’t be able to see any of them. But now we can.”

“What is this place?” Laura asked, still messmerised by the stars that were slowly moving along the ceiling, all in brilliant whites and purples, oranges and yellows.

“It’s actually a part of the Silas university, for lessons on astrology, but it’s very small and virtually unknown. I have a deal with the dean, and as long as I make the occasional donation, I can book the entire theatre to myself from time to time.” Carmilla handed Laura a glass of champagne and Laura took it, then her mind caught up to the moment and she couldn’t help but overthink something. She must have been frowning in thought, because Carmilla noticed.

“What’s wrong, Laura?”

“I was just… wondering. I mean, this is all so romantic with the stars, and the privacy and the,” she looked at the bottle and her eyebrows almost shot off her head in shock, “ludicrously overpriced champagne. And I can’t help wondering just… how many people have you done this to?” Carmilla paused and then smiled softly, looking at her own glass, almost for inspiration.

“Actually, you’re the first.”

“Really?” Laura asked, blushing a little at the thought of being a first of Carmilla’s.

“This place has been… rather private for me. It’s comforting, to know just how small we are, how in the grand universe, we mean nothing and our actions even less. For someone with a past like mine… it reminds me of just how small I really am.”

“That doesn’t sound particularly comforting.”

“No I suppose it doesn’t,” Carmilla chuckled, “Regardless, this place means a lot to me. It’s my own personal private retreat. And I don’t let just anyone join me in here.”

“So why me?” Laura asked, her voice cracking a little, partly because it was sinking in that she was seeing this side of Carmilla, but mostly because while she had been talking, Carmilla had been moving closer, and was now so close it made breathing difficult.

“There’s something about you Laura,” she said, tucking a stray bit of Laura’s hair behind her ear, “something I can’t put my finger on right now. But I want to know what it is.” Carmilla didn’t move her hand away. Instead, she placed her hand so it was just under Laura’s ear, her thumb brushing her cheek slightly. Laura couldn’t feel her legs, could barely feel anything. She was only aware of Carmilla’s eyes burning into hers, full of passion and desire. She didn’t wait for an invitation. She moved slowly forward, her hands finding their way to Carmilla’s hips, and then around to the base of her spine, pulling them closer together. Their lips were almost touching, but not quite, and the tension was too much for Laura. Apparently it was too much for Carmilla as well, because before Laura could close the gap, Carmilla had beaten her to it. Laura moaned into the kiss, her lips just as soft as she remembered. She gripped her tighter without realizing, pulling them impossibly closer. Carmilla responded by moving her hand from Laura’s cheek and into her hair, coming to a stop at the back of her neck. She began to run her fingers in small circles, causing a shiver to erupt down Laura’s spine. Laura’s mind was clouded by passion and with one hand she moved it up towards the bare patch of skin on Carmilla’s back, but before she could reach it, the kiss was suddenly over.

Carmilla leant back a little, away from Laura. At first, the smaller girl was confused, but didn’t try to force it. Without a word, Carmilla took a step backwards, out of Laura’s grip, running a hand slowly along her shoulder and then down Laura’s arm. When she got to her hand, Carmilla held it tightly, pulling Laura with her. She expertly walked backwards towards the first row of seats and pushed one down, sitting down slowly, placing her glass on the floor beside her, well out of the way. Before Laura could take the seat next to her, Carmilla tugged at her hand with a surprising amount of strength and Laura pretty much fell on top of Carmilla, straddling her a little. Realizing what Carm was doing, Laura chuckled, before adjusting herself to be more comfortable, and then placed her hands on Carmilla’s shoulders, leaning in a little. Carmilla began to run her hands up Laura’s sides, causing her to shiver again. And so, Laura kissed Carmilla again, this time with so much desire and a hunger that Laura hadn’t felt in a long time. Laura moaned as Carmilla’s hands began to wrap around her back, and she could feel the girl underneath her shift so she could reach more of her, making Laura gasp a little. All the while the stars were dancing overhead, shining just for them. And Laura couldn’t have imagined it any other way.

 

Carmilla turned off the motorbike outside of Laura’s apartment block, and Laura got off with ease. She handed Carmilla her helmet again, and watched as she put it away, and then turn back to look at her.

“Well this was very fun, Miss Hollis.” Carmilla said, her voice low and silky. Laura blushed at the memory a little.

“Yeah, I think fun is the right word for it.” She said. She was about to say something else when she suddenly noticed Carmilla’s expression had turned from playful to afraid. Laura followed her gaze and saw a tall, elegant woman striding down the pavement towards them. Carmilla bolted to Laura’s side, standing just in front of her, almost like she was guarding her. The woman was beaming at Carmilla, her smile wide and knowing, but it was too wide, almost like it was hiding a darker meaning. Laura swallowed, putting herself on high alert.

“My dear Carmilla!” the woman exclaimed as she grew closer, throwing her hands out as if she was going for a hug. But Carmilla remained frozen by Laura, only moving a little to allow the woman to plant a small kiss on her cheek. When the woman pulled back, she placed her hands together, leaning a little more on one foot than the other, standing so perfectly still. Everything about her was terrifying… and yet oddly attractive. Laura shook her head a little.

“Mattie.” Was all Carmilla said, and her voice was cold and stern. This woman, Mattie, picked up on it immediately and her gaze feel directly onto Laura. Laura felt every instinct in her urge her to fight, to battle this woman. But she couldn’t. She had no idea who she was.

“Carmilla aren’t you going to introduce me to your… friend?” she said friend with such distain that Laura felt uncomfortable, but what Mattie had meant by it, she had no idea.

“Mattie, this is Laura. She is-”

“A reporter doing a follow up interview.” Laura jumped in, holding her hand out for Mattie to shake. Mattie tilted her head a little, her mouth open a little as she smiled. “Charmed to meet you. But if I know my little sister, she doesn’t let reporters just ride that precious bike of hers.”

“My car broke down on my way to the interview. Miss Karnstein was kind enough to offer me a ride home.” The way that Carmilla looked at her out of the corner of her eye clearly told Laura that she hadn’t expected her to say such a convincing lie. And neither had Mattie it seemed.

“Well, how kind of my baby sister. She never normally shows such kindness to strangers.” Carmilla stiffened a little, but said nothing. The tension in the air only grew as none of them said anything else. Then Mattie laughed loudly, throwing her head back a little. “Well, I must dash. Mother doesn’t like us being late for dinner. I’ll see you at home, Carmilla.” And with that she gave a small finger wave goodbye and began to walk away before suddenly stopping and turning on her heel back to them, “And I’ll be seeing you later, Miss Hollis.” And then she was gone, gliding down the pavement again. Laura turned to Carmilla, who had a face like thunder and two bunched up fists to match.

“What the hell was all that about?” Laura asked, making sure to keep her tone even. She didn’t want to make Carmilla angrier than she already was.

“Mattie is my adopted sister. We have a… complicated relationship.” Laura nodded. She knew that was all she was going to get out of her on the subject.

“Well this was a lovely evening,” Laura said softly, kissing Carmilla on the cheek, “I’ll call you later.” And then she went inside, trying not to panic over what had just happened. If she was worried about dating Carmilla before, the fact that her sister knew her full name was making that worry a thousand times worse.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first update of the year! sorry if it's not that long, but it's something at least. also this chapter is darker than the others so sorry about that. anyways, enjoy!

“Where is Carmilla?” mother said softly, barely looking up from her work. Mattie rolled her eyes slightly before taking a breath.

“She is off galivanting around with a young reporter. Pretty thing, such a darling. Nevertheless, she is a distraction for our poor Carmilla.” Mother stopped writing and slowly, carefully, raised her head to look at the two of them. Mattie held her gaze, not shying away, unlike Will next to her. He was squirming, shuffling from foot to foot. However he ended up as the muscle, she would never know. 

“Carmilla is distracted? By a girl again? Did she learn nothing the first time?” Mother snapped, moving around her desk, coming to a stop in front of them. 

“Clearly the punishment wasn’t good enough.” Will sneered, a sickening grin playing on his lips. Mattie wanted to protest but bit her tongue. She remembered better than anyone the state Carmilla was in the last time she had let herself run along with her feelings. The punishment had been enough; she was certain of that. She may not know why Carmilla was so smitten with this new girl, but she was going to make sure that mother didn’t have to put her through that again. 

“Stop groveling, William,” Mother snapped at him, “But we do have to take this reporter out of her life. She could expose everything I have worked so hard for if she got too close.”

“Consider it done.” Will said, his tone thick with a hunger that never ceased to shock Mattie. Mother was about to reply, but Mattie beat her to it. 

“My dear William, you’ve even met the girl. Have you learnt nothing about her? She’s preppy, small and gorgeous. A girl like that will have friends, family, and possibly lovers looking for her if she were to disappear, not to mention Carmilla would never work for us again.” 

“So, what do you suggest we do, Matska?” Mother asked, the ghost of a smile appearing. Ignoring the glare from Will, Mattie smiled, and began to pace slowly, thinking. 

“We would have to break them up. Force Miss Hollis to break our sweet little Carmilla’s heart. That way she’s out of our lives and, after a period of brooding over her loss, Carmilla will be back on track, doing exactly what you tell her to.” Mother nodded slowly.

“Matska, my dear, that shall be your job. I trust you have a few ideas in mind as to how to proceed with your plan?” Mattie let out a laugh. 

“Of course, Mother.”

“Good. Now, William. How is the hunt for the Yellow Shield coming along?” 

“Not well. She’s good at evading my men when they try to follow her home, and those that get close are quickly disposed of.”

“That is not what I wanted to hear, William.” Mother said darkly, her voice growing cold and stern, growling a little as she spoke. Will began to shuffle again under her intense gaze. 

“I have a plan to trap her, then plant a tracking device on her. I’ll find her, Mother, I swear.” His voice cracked a little at the end, but with Mother drawing closer to him, her arm outstretched, her hand reaching out for him, Mattie wasn’t surprised. She shivered a little as she recalled exactly what that touch felt like. 

“You had better, William,” she snarled, “Because this, wannabe heroine, is putting a hold on my plans, and I don’t have enough patience for these constant delays.” 

“Of course not, Mother,” Mattie said, “You are far too brilliant to have your plans foiled by a small girl in a yellow suit.” Mother glared at her, but said nothing, simply gliding herself back behind her desk again. 

“You two have your jobs, and you know what to do. I want results soon. I know you will not disappoint me.” Mattie and will both bowed a little before walking to the elevator. Will had his hands behind his back, and Mattie had her head held high, gliding across the floor with ease. 

“You didn’t have to make me look like a fool in front of Mother, you know?” Will said quietly, hissing his words at her. She knew he was trying to sound scary, but she couldn’t be scared that easily. Instead, she laughed at him. 

“But then my dear, how would I enjoy myself?” 

“You aren’t as good as you say you are.” He snapped at her as they stepped into the lift. 

“Neither are you, silly boy. After all, they found the body of that gang leader you were supposed to hide forever. What was his name again?” she watched and smirked as she saw Will’s expression turn from shock to anger. 

“You son of a-”

“You’re lucky I didn’t tell Mother. Can you imagine if she heard about your little dumping ground being discovered as well as you failing to discover the Yellow Shield on the same day? I don’t think she would be too happy with you.” Will opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it again. Mattie nodded to herself, satisfied with her victory on the matter. Will looked at his watch and groaned. 

“Great, now I’m late for work.” 

“I don’t know why you keep that silly job.” 

“It gives me access to city computers. And the people aren’t so bad either.”

“I’m sure you’re thinking about one person in particular.”

“Trust me, Lafontaine poses no such distractions to me. They are just cool to hang out with.”

“That’s what Carm said about Elle.”

“It gets me out of the house then. Does that reason satisfy you?” he snapped back quickly, changing the subject. 

“A blessing for all of us.” Will shot her a look.

“Just focus on how you’re going to scare off this new lover of Carm’s, and I’ll focus on my jobs? Laura won’t be as easy to drive away as you think. Trust me.” the lift doors open and he marched out, not even grunting a goodbye. Mattie smiled and waltzed out. She was going to have so much fun today. 

 

Laura huffed heavily, putting her work pass back into her bag. It hadn’t been a particularly tough day, but Mel had demanded her edited article, and word had gotten around about her and Carmilla’s new found relationship. Throughout the day, she had been fighting off every gossip columnist the paper had. They were not amused by Laura’s lack of cooperation, but she didn’t particularly care if she pissed off a few colleagues. She wasn’t about to have her and Carmilla splattered all over the tabloids, and she certainly wasn’t about to invite people to snoop into her life. 

She sighed again. She had been hoping that no one would find out for a little while longer, but clearly that wasn’t going to be the case. Apparently a fan of Carmilla’s had seem them together and sent in a photo. Of course, it was of their time on the motorbike, so Laura’s hair had looked awful. She knew that wasn’t what she should be annoyed about, but she couldn’t help it. Of all the moments to capture, it had to be that one. 

She unlocked her bike quickly, putting her bag in the basket and strapping it down. 

“Hey Laura, we’re gonna get something to drink. You want to come?” Lafontaine asked behind her, quickly followed by JP. Laura couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was off about JP. He smiled too much, but it never reached his eyes. Never. Even the way he stood, with his hands behind his back, hips thrust forward like he owned the place. But he was nice enough to hang around, and Laf enjoyed his company, so who was she to judge. After all, everyone had their secrets. 

“No thanks, Laf. I kinda just want to get home.”

“Tough day at the office?” JP asked, his voice as smooth as ever. 

“Yeah, you could say that.” She grumbled, putting on her helmet and hopping onto the seat. 

“Well, we still have to hang out soon. Perry is constantly reminding me of how long it’s been and the apartment can only be cleaned so many times.” Laf said, smiling softly. Laura echoed it, nodding in agreement. 

“How about this weekend? Both Danny and I have it off, so we can do it at ours.” 

“Sounds great. See you later Hollis,” they gave a small wave goodbye, and walked off, resuming their conversation with JP as usual. Laura shook her head a little, smiling, thinking back to when Perry and Laf were inseperable, and how Perry had been her floor don at university and was essentially her mother for all those years, while Lafontain was the cool relative that sneaks you chocolate at dinner. She missed those days, when they all lived so close together, without a care in the world. 

She shook her head a little, shaking away the memory. She just wanted to get home and curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, and binge watch something. Then she had another thought. She could ask Carmilla to hang out with her. That was a thing she could easily do. That was a thing she so badly wanted to do. Laura reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. But she just held it, staring at herself in the blank screen. Carmilla was surly busy, too busy to spend time with her. But she had to at least ask. Laura unlocked her phone, her thumb hovering over Carmilla’s name. her stomach was erupting into butterflies, and she was unable to calm them. Before she could stop herself, she pushed the name and her phone began ringing. She held the phone up to her ear, each ring was agony, and Laura could barely stand it. She couldn’t believe how giddy she was feeling. She couldn’t recall ever being this nervous about calling a girl. Well, maybe once. 

A movement caught Laura’s attention, and she looked up, the phone still ringing in her ear. She frowned. Walking towards her on the opposite side of the street, staring directly at her, a sly smiled on her face, was Mattie. What was she doing here? How did she know where Laura worked? Was she even here to see her or was it just a coincidence? Laura suddenly became aware of a voice talking in her ear, and she snapped her attention off of Mattie for a split second to listen. But it was just a voice mail message. Quickly, she shut off her phone and looked up again. She jumped a little, mostly due to the fact that Mattie was now only a few metres away from here. The way she walked was so mesmerizing. Laura could feel herself being drawn to her. She felt herself bite her lip a little, but shook her head. What was she doing?

Mattie now stood in front of her, almost striking a pose where she stood. She beamed a smile at Laura.

“Hello again, my dear,” she said, “May I have a word with you?” and that was all Laura could remember. 

 

Laura awoke with a start, bolting upright in a chair. She blinked a few times, trying to take in the dimly lit room. But all she could see was the chair she was sat on and a table in front of her. The table was cold and made of a thick metal. She blinked a bit more, and felt the metal go all the way around her wrists. She groaned. 

“Not again,” she grumbled to herself, tucking at the restraints on the table, but they wouldn’t budge. She slumped in the chair, stretching her neck a little, trying to remember how she got here. But the last the she could remember was talking to Mattie and then… nothing. Laura huffed. She hated this. But then a thought crossed her mind. Why was she here? She wasn’t in her hero suit, so it wasn’t anything to do with that. Right?

Suddenly she heard heals clacking on concrete and snapped her head towards the sound. A figure was gliding towards her, emerging from the darkness with a smirk on her face. She was dressed in an elegant black gown of lace, her tone arms exposed and flawless, the train of the dress billowing around her like gentle waves lapping on a beach. Her face was hidden behind a mask, decorated with swirls of gold and red, allowing her dark eyes to get lost in the patterns, and Laura was not at all distracted by the thick black choker that was around her neck. As she drew closer, Laura saw that integrated into the dress and lace was a crimson heart, bold and beautifully standing out, beckoning her in. Laura shook her head, trying to break the spell that this woman was giving off. But as the woman drew even closer and then stood beside her, looking down at Laura intensely, she couldn’t help but shiver under that gaze. Smirking even more, the woman moved further around Laura, gliding out of her vision behind her. 

“Hello Laura,” the woman said, her voice so silky and smooth, but clearly being distorted, “How are you this evening?” 

“I’m great,” Laura said, faking a cheerful tone, “Or at least I would be if I wasn’t chained to this table.” The woman behind her laughed, her voice carrying and echoing around the room with ease. 

“I’m sure you would be, child. But you are chained to a table, completely at my disposal.” Laura felt fingertips lightly brush across her shoulders, pulling her hair with them. She shivered a little, feeling her breathing quickening. What was going on? Why was she reacting this way? 

“While that sounds lovely, I would much rather go home if you don’t mind,” Laura said, trying to sound as stable as she could, ignoring how the hand lingered on her shoulder, blocking out the sweet perfume the woman was wearing. The woman said nothing for a moment, and then she started walking again, moving around to the opposite side of the table. She sat down with such grace and elegance that Laura couldn’t stop staring. The woman smirked at her. 

“Well I would be more than happy to return you home. But there are a few things we should discuss first.” 

“I have nothing to discuss with you.” Laura said, feeling herself grow cold and angry. She wasn’t going to break so easily. No matter how good this woman smelled. 

“Actually, we have a lot more to discuss than you think.” Intrigued, Laura leant forward a little. 

“Oh really? What could we possibly have to talk about?” 

“Have you heard of the Queen of Clubs?” the woman suddenly asked, and Laura’s blood ran cold. She swallowed, trying to hold her gaze, trying not to show that she did. 

“Only on the news.” Laura said, surprising herself at how confident and real her answer sounded. 

“Well, I,” she spread her arms out dramatically, “Am the Queen of Hearts.” Laura swallowed again. The queen was working with another… queen. She was going to have to start giving them nicknames, or this would get confusing fast. 

“And I’m supposed to care about this why?” Laura asked, coating her voice in heavy sarcasm. 

“We have a shared interest in Carmilla Karnstein. I believe you two have recently entered into a romantic relationship.” 

“I wouldn’t say relationship,” Laura mumbled, blushing red at the comment, “wait, why do you have an interest in Carm?” The Queen of Hearts seemed to flinch a little at the nickname, but it was so small and so fast that Laura wasn’t sure if she imagined it. 

“Miss Karnstein represents a… significant investment into our cause, and we like to protect our investments.”

“Carmilla would never give money to a bunch of wannabe gang members and thugs.” Laura snapped out angrily, but that only caused Hearts to chuckle, her shoulders shaking. 

“You clearly don’t know Miss Karnstein as well as you think.” Laura could feel her anger rising, but this was good news. It seemed like Heart eyes here didn’t know about her being the Yellow Shield. That part of her was safe. The downside to that was, that now she couldn’t break out of here without drawing suspicions. She was trapped for now, having to listen to what was going on. 

“What are you talking about?” Laura demanded, her anger not even being a subtle undertone anymore. 

“Miss Karnstein is far closer to this organization than you believe. That is why she cannot afford to have any distractions in these crucial times.” 

“How close is she? What aren’t you telling me?”

“You are a very nosy girl, aren’t you, sweetie?” The Queen of Hearts said, smiling a wicked but enticing smile. Laura wanted to growl and yell and demand her answers, but she bit her tongue. She wanted answers. 

“I am a reporter, it is my job.”

“Yes I know. That is one of the reasons that you and Miss Karnstein must end this little… exploration of each other.” 

“And what would happen if I refused? You would kill me?” Laura snapped, and Heart Eyes threw her head back in laughter. 

“No, no, my dear, I wouldn’t do something like that,” Laura let out a small sigh of relief, “I would just kill your father instead.” Laura bolted upright, and this time she did growl. 

“Don’t you dare threaten my father.” She snarled, and the woman in front of her cocked her head, her expression impressed at this aggression. 

“It appears I hit a nerve. In that case, I will destroy your father if you continue your relationship with Miss Karnstein. I will not make it quick, I will make it slow. He will be dying in a hospital, slowly fading away from you, while you watch helplessly by his side. That shall be his fate.”

“I said don’t threaten my father!” Laura shouted, trying to hold back the tears she could feel prickling behind her eyes. 

“You should be used to that feeling of helplessness. After all, wasn’t that how your mother died?” Laura screamed at her, tugging at her restraints again. She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. She wanted to end this woman. She wanted to end her badly. But the Queen of Hearts simply watched as Laura struggled helplessly against her restraints, almost amused by the sight. 

“That will be his fate, Miss Hollis,” she said once Laura had stopped struggling, “I shall not give you a second warning.”

“Screw you!” Laura bellowed, but she already knew that she didn’t mean it. She could feel herself already making a decision. And she hated herself for it.

 

Suddenly another sound could be heard, and Laura turned her attention to it. She saw a figure standing in a rectangle of light, and then the figure moved. The room burst into light, and Laura had to slam her eyes shut fast, but it did little to stop it blinding her. She blinked a little, clearing her vision and looked up. She felt her heart drop. The figure that walked in, that clicked on the lights, that clearly had no idea she was here, was the Queen of Clubs herself. 

She had her back to them, but Laura knew it was her. She swallowed the lump in her throat, not taking her eyes off of her. 

“What are you doing sitting in the dark, Mattie?” a familiar voice asked, as the Clubs queen removed her helmet, letting her smooth black hair billow out from under it. Laura sank into her chair more, and couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her lips. It couldn’t be true. This wasn’t happening, this was all Heart Eyes, this was a set up. But as the Queen of Clubs spun around, clearly startled by the sudden sound, Laura sobbed again. For staring back at her, was Carmilla. Her Carmilla. Laura felt the exact moment when she felt her heart tear in two.   
 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this? Another chapter???? must be a miracle :P 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support so far! I really didn't expect this to get any reads at all, so thank you again.
> 
> Warning: this chapter is a little sadder than i originally intended it to be, so sorry about that 
> 
> anyways I hope you enjoy it!

Laura heard a soft knock on her door, but didn’t move. She was too comfy to move. She pushed herself further into her collection of pillows that were surrounding her, and wished as hard as she could to be left alone. She knew she wouldn’t be, but it was nice to wish. She heard Danny open the door, slowly and carefully.

“Laura are you awake?” Danny asked, her voice soft and gentle, but full of pity. Laura’s only response was a sniff as she tried to wipe the last remaining tears from her eyes. Danny didn’t say anything, and Laura tried to take deep breaths. But it was like she was being suffocated, the life being squeezed out of her slowly. She was being crushed under a mountain and didn’t even care.

She hadn’t realized how much she had cared about Carmilla until this moment. They may have only been on two dates, but it had been enough. Every morning since that first date, Carmilla had woken her up with a message, hoping she had a good day. It hadn’t occurred to Laura how fast or how hard she had fallen until no such message came through this morning. All she wanted to do was call her, just to hear her voice again. But she knew how stupid of an idea that was.

Laura felt the pillow behind her disappear, leaving her back exposed. Instantly it was replaced by a warm pressure, and Danny wrapped herself around Laura, encasing her in security and comfort. Laura couldn’t hold back the tears. She sobbed with all her might, heaving and crying loudly. And all the while, Danny just held her, pulling her in close and whispering soothing words. Laura had no tears left to cry, but she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t feel anything other than the lasting agony of betrayal. Instead of tears, Laura only wailed, crying out into her pillow all the pain that was inside, until she had no voice left to give. When she had no voice, she simply shook, huffing and wheezing, trying to get the last of it out. But it wasn’t working. Nothing was working. Nothing would get the events of yesterday out of her head. She grimaced and clenched her teeth as the memories started flooding back again, hitting her with everything they had.

_“Laura wait, please, I can explain.” Laura was marching towards the door, ignoring the desperate cries of Carmilla behind her._

_“Please Laura, I never meant for you to find out this way. Just let me explain.”_

_“Oh what, you were going to wait until you’d taken over the city before going, oh by the way, I’m the villain that’s been running around blowing up buildings!” Laura shouted, whirling around to face Carmilla, her anger overflowing._

_“I was going to say something before that, but it wasn’t the right time.”_

_“How is there a right time for something like this? You’re a criminal Carm!” Laura screamed at her, standing directly in front of her, her expression fuming, her temper rising and her eyes stinging from holding back tears._

_“I know, but please, you have to believe me. This isn’t the real me. You know the real me, you must do.” Laura felt the anger slip as she remembered the night under the stars, remembering how close they felt, and how real… Laura didn’t dare let herself finish that thought._

_“I have no idea who you are, Carm. You’ve lied to me.”_

_“No I never lied to you, I swear.”_

_“Maybe not, but you still hid this from me, which is worse.”_

_“I couldn’t put you at risk. You’d be in so much danger if I had told you. Mother would have-” Carmilla said, reaching up to brush away some stray hairs from Laura’s face, but Laura pulled away, frowning, confused._

_“Mother? Who is Mother?” Carmilla stiffed and froze, staring at her in a panic, “Wait… how many of you are there?”_

_“Laura please-” but Laura just scoffed at her in fury, unable to believe what she was hearing._

_“So, I’m guessing Mother runs the show then. She’s the brains and you’re the brawn, is that it?” Carmilla looked down that the floor, hanging her head, and Laura let out a weak chuckle, taking a step backwards, “I can’t believe I trusted you.” She mumbled to herself._

_“Don’t say that. You can trust me, I swear.” Carmilla reached out for her, but Laura just batted her hand away, unable to stop the hot tears run down her cheeks._

_“You may not have intended this, Carm… but I can’t do this. For the sake of closure, you are the reason I have to end this. We’re done.” She turned and started walking away, but Carmilla caught up to her, spinning her around, and forcing Laura to look at her._

_“Listen to me Laura. I didn’t tell you because I want to get out. For you. I care about you and I was just trying to protect you… to save you from what Mother has planned. Don’t you see? You can trust me.” Laura tried to shake her off, tried to push her away, but she was too weak, too emotional. Her brain was telling her to run and never look back, but her broken heart was begging her to stay, to accept what she was saying._

_“I can’t…” she said weakly, and with one hand Carmilla gently pulled her chin up so they were looking at each other again. Carmilla’s smile was so soft and caring that Laura felt her herself break all over again._

_“You can trust me. I’m not the bad guy here.” She said softly, and that was it for Laura. She shook her head, finally breaking free of Carmilla’s grip._

_“Tell that to the bank you robbed. Tell that to the buildings you blew up and the lives you’ve destroyed. Tell that to my friend you almost shot,” Laura took another step back, glaring at Carmilla with all her might, her eyes swelling with fresh tears, “You are the bad guy, Carm. And I will never forgive you for this.” With that she turned on her heel and bolted out the door. She could hear Carmilla calling her name, begging her to stay. But Laura didn’t listen. She had to get out of here. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted to be far away from Carmilla and Mattie and whoever this Mother was. And she wanted something that she hadn’t wanted in a long time. She wanted her mother to hold her close until she stopped crying, safe and warm in her arms once more. So, she kept running, ignoring her burning lungs and agonizing chest pain. She had to get far, far away. She made a promise to herself though. That she would make Carmilla pay with everything that she had. And she was going to enjoy it._

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Danny asked softly, waiting patiently for a reply. Laura sighed shakily, too exhausted to form any words, shaking her head slightly. Danny just pulled her in a little closer, and Laura was grateful that she didn’t push her to talk. They stayed like that for a while, Laura recovering from her outburst of pain, and Danny silently holding her, hoping with all her might that her Laura would return soon.

 

***

 

Suddenly, Danny shuffled up a little, propping herself up with one arm.

“That’s it, I’m not letting you stay in this bed another day.” Danny suddenly said, and she shot off of the bed, and went around it and stood in front of Laura, her hands on her hips. Laura just stared at her, and then tried to roll over and away, but Danny caught her arm and pulled her back.

“Danny I’m not in the mood.” Laura groaned, trying to shake her off. But Danny was holding on tightly.

“I’m not taking no for an answer. You are going to get up, you are going to get a shower, and then we are going to have Chinese for dinner.” Danny yanked Laura to sit up and when she refused to move, she grabbed Laura’s legs and swung them around so they were over the bed, her feet barely touching the floor.

“Enough Danny, come on. Just leave me alone.”

“What so you can mope about how the person you were dating isn’t who you thought they were? We’ve all been there Hollis. You just get one advantage.”

“What’s that?”

“You get to beat to crap out of her when you next see her.” Laura thought about it, imagining the next time her and Carm would meet again. It would be in the middle of something illegal, and Laura would have to stop her. No matter how many ways she pictured it, it all ended the same way; with Laura knocking Carmilla on her arse and locking her away forever. Laura felt a smile creep onto her face, and Danny whooped.

“There we go! There’s the Laura Hollis we all know and love!” Laura let out a laugh for the first time and let herself be pulled to her feet by Danny.

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” Laura couldn’t help but laugh as Danny began dancing around the room, whoop and cheering at her achievement of standing up.

“Good! Now get showered, and I’ll order food.” And with that, after one final suffocating bear hug, she left the room. Laura watched her go, shaking her head a little. Danny was ridiculous, thinking that a shower and Chinese was going to fix the problem. But at least it was a start.

 

Laura was finishing off drying her hair when the doorbell rang out.

“It’s just food, can you get that?” Danny called from the kitchen, making a racket as she got out plates and cutlery. Laura walked over slowly, towel still in one hand, the money in the other. She pulled it open and almost fell over backwards by the volume of the “Surprise!” that was shouted at her. Once she was over the shock, she burst out laughing at the sight of Laf, Perry and Kirsch all crowded around her doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Laura asked, beckoning them to come in, hugging them all in turn, apart from Laf, who accepted their fist bump gratefully.

“Well Danny explained that Carmilla had broken up with you, and so we came over to cheer you up.” Perry said, moving swiftly to the kitchen to help Danny set up.

“Really?” Laura said, her heart feeling warmth for the first time in a while.

“Yep. We couldn’t leave our favourtie little hottie all broken hearted, could we?” Kirsch said, beaming from ear to ear as he handed her a beer. Laura took a sip, and suddenly felt at home. She wasn’t going to think about Carmilla or the Queens or whoever the hell this mother was. Tonight, she was just going to enjoy being around her friends. She watched them all flit around the apartment, getting everything ready; Perry and Laf were dishing up the food, Danny was helping but also yelling at Kirsch because he had put on the game, and he was just laughing at her. Laura smiled again, and took a deep breath. This was much better than crying into her pillow again.

 

“Come on, Perry, you’re not playing it right.” Laf protested, as everyone else tried to stifle their laughter.

“How do you know?” Perry snapped at them, her face going bright red.

“Because the question was, never have I ever broken a table, and I know for a fact, you were trying to get a stain out of your mother’s priceless oak dining table, and it collapsed.” Everyone burst out laughing as Perry’s face grew even redder.

“I may have been scrubbing a little too viciously.” She said quietly, taking a sip of her drink.

“Alright, my turn,” Danny said, before pausing for thought, “Never have I ever had someone draw on me when I was passed out.” Kirsch shot her a death glare.

“This is a stupid game,” he grumbled, but took his sip, and Laura sniggered as she remembered the morning when Kirsch had walked all the way over to her dorm room with the words, _I <3 Summer Society_ on his forehead.

“Oh come on, I said I was sorry!” Danny said, but she couldn’t stop her own sniggers.

“This is a silly game for 12 year olds.” Kirsch grumbled, but he was still smiling.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is it too old for you, man child?” Danny mocked, but that only made Kirsch laugh more.

“Keep them coming Danny, you’re not going to get a rise out of me.”

“I certainly hope not.”

“My turn,” Laura chimed in, stopping that conversation in its tracks, “Never have I ever… stroked a dog.” Everyone gave Laura a look.

“There couldn’t have been a more innocent round, in the history of this game.” Laf said before taking a sip. Laura laughed.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t think of one! Kirsch it’s your go.” Kirsch got a look in his eye that was a mix of glee and pure evil before he directed that look straight at Danny.

“Never have I ever left my underwear at a one night stand’s place.” Danny’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open. Laura, Laf and Perry however, just stared at her, before howling with laughter.

“You did not do that!” Laura said, her sides begin to hurt.

“Oh not only that, but when she went to retrieve them, she found them pinned to the main campus notice board, for all to see.” This encouraged another round of laughter, and Laura couldn’t see through the tears.

“You swore that you would never tell that!” Danny bellowed out, her face going bright red with anger and embarrassment. Kirsch simply shrugged.

“There are no rules of friendships in Never have I ever.” Was his only argument.

“Okay back to me,” Perry said, giggling a little. The alcohol was starting to affect her, and Laura couldn’t wait to put on music and watch Perry dance. After a while, Perry finally thought of one.

“Never have I ever, had a recurring nightmare.” She said. Laf took a drink, but they all knew about that; Laf had a big fear of wasps, and they would often slip into their nightmares. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Danny took a drink slowly, unsure if she should. Kirsch’s eyebrows shot up straight away.

“Really D-bear? I thought nothing scared you.” Danny shot him a glare, but it didn’t last long.

“Only this nightmare.” She said softly and Laura placed her hand on Danny’s gently, without even thinking.

“What the hell do you dream about?” Laf asked, receiving a smack from Perry on their arm.

“Lafontaine, you can’t ask that of someone,” Perry scowled in a hushed voice, but Danny just chuckled.

“No, it’s alright. Maybe it’ll be good to talk about it, you know?” she said, but there was such a sadness in her eyes, such a fear that Laura wondered if it really was a good idea. Danny took a deep, but shaky breath.

“It always starts the same. I’m in my car, driving down a highway, I don’t know where. I can hear the radio playing some song but then the song turns to screams. I look behind me and there’s this… blackness coming for me. So, I try to drive faster but it’s too late and I’m not quick enough and suddenly I’m surrounded by it. I can’t see anything but I can’t stop driving. The screams get louder and louder so I try to turn off the radio, but that doesn’t do anything. And then suddenly, on my left, two glowing eyes emerge from the darkness and head straight towards me. I hear the collision, hear the metal bending and breaking before I feel it. And then I wake up.” Everyone was silent as Danny finished her tale. Laura had heard it before, but that didn’t stop the shiver that ran down her spine. She could tell the others were feeling it to, just from their expressions.

“Danny, I…” Kirsch started to say, but Danny just waved her hand at him, taking another shaky breath.

“Come on, Wilson, don’t get all soft on me now.” They all chuckled a little, and Laura squeezed Danny’s hand, giving her a soft smile. Laf cleared their throat.

“Well that was heavy and dramatic. I vote we move onto another game.”

“Agreed,” Laura said, standing up and heading over to where they kept their board games, “Now, should we play monopoly, the headband game where we have to guess who we are, or scrabble?” all four of the others shouted for the guess who game and Laura laughed, bringing it over. They began to set up, refilling their drinks, and placing on their headbands, all laughing at who everyone got. By the time they decided to wind down with a film, Laura was exhausted from laughing so hard. She smiled as she sank into the sofa, snuggling between Laf and Danny. This was the perfect way to end a shitty week, that was for damn sure.

 

Carmilla roared in anger as she threw her book across her room, frustrated at the inability to focus on the words in front of her. She had always been able to find comfort in other people’s words, using their pain to heal her own. But she couldn’t this time. Nothing she did could cover up the feeling of utter betrayal; from Mattie, whom she trusted everything she had, and Mother, whom never failed to ensure she had nothing to give.

Carmilla leaned forward in her chair, and put her head in her hands, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. She couldn’t get Laura out of her head. She couldn’t stop replaying that last conversation, over and over again in her memory. She just wanted to forget it, to let her go as just another person that had left her. But she couldn’t. Laura was too special for that. The way that her nose creased when she smiled, the way that she rambled when she was nervous, hell even the way she had looked at her when she thought Carmilla wasn’t looking. Everything about her was so unique, so Laura that Carmilla couldn’t get her out the damn reporter out of her mind.

Mattie had tried to explain why she kidnapped Laura, why she forced her to break up with Carmilla. But Carmilla couldn’t excuse it, couldn’t forgive and forget this unlike so many times before. She was furious. Laura had been the reason she woke up smiling; the first time in a long time. Once again, however, she was reminded that Mother wasn’t forgiving or kind, and wouldn’t hesitate in hurting Carmilla to achieve her own goals.

Carmilla made her way over to her floor to ceiling window and looked out at the city below. This city was too good for what Mother had planned. It would crumble under her rule, and lives would be destroyed. Carmilla had known this when she started, but it was only now she had someone to lose that she had a reason to not be a part of it. She could leave her Mother behind in a cloud of dust and never look back. Laura would forgive her and they would live together in the mountains, far away from anyone and everyone. There was one problem of course; mother would never let her leave so easily.

Carmilla rested her head on the window, feeling helpless and silly for longing to be with someone that so clearly hated them now. But that’s when it hit her. Laura only hated her because she was a villain, because she worked for Mother. If she did well, did something to win Mother’s approval, she might be more lenient about letting her walk away from this life. Carmilla marched out of her room, grabbing her jacket as she went, knowing exactly what she had to do. She only hoped Will worked as slowly as his brain did. She had to find the Yellow Shield before he did. And she had to destroy her before the sunshine heroine could ruin anymore of Mother’s plans. That would be enough for Carmilla to leave. It had to be.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this??? Another quick update? Don't get used to it, the next chapter will take a while to write.
> 
> Thank you again for all the love! I promise, I'll try not to keep you waiting too long, for the next update.
> 
> Enjoy!

Laura plonked herself down on the sofa and huffed heavily, flicking on the telly and flipping through the channels. Of course, there wasn’t anything good on. There never was during the day. She took a lazy bite of her sandwich, still desperately trying to find something to watch. She had called in sick to work, meaning that she was all alone in the middle of a Thursday afternoon. She wouldn’t mind, but she had gotten used to Danny trying to cheer her up; it was mostly succeeding, until she had to go to sleep at least. That’s when she couldn’t stop seeing Carmilla smiling and laughing. That’s when she couldn’t stop missing her.

 

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Danny was down at the station, trying to find out anything about Carmilla and her life without drawing too much attention, but so far it was everything that Laura already knew about. Being an actress, her life wasn’t exactly private, especially in her younger years when she was breaking out of her mold. But Laura couldn’t help but feel like it had been all lies, and there was a whole other part to her life that she didn’t know about. She rolled her eyes and mentally kicked herself. Of course there had been a secret side to her. She was a supervillain; one doesn’t get a bigger secret side than that. But still Danny was trying to dig up anything, especially about this mother of hers. Laura felt a ghost of a smile creep onto her face. She really didn’t deserve a friend like Danny.

 

As she took another bite of her sandwich, she suddenly arrived at a news station, and froze, mid bite. On the screen was an office building that Laura knew to be the site of Silas’ stock market, and the camera from the helicopter was showing what they could see inside. What she saw made her blood boil. There, on her screen, were the Queen’s thugs, holding the workers hostage at gun point. She watched as the camera rose up to the top of the building, where the Queen herself was stood on the helipad, looking directly into the camera. Even from this distance, Laura could tell she was smirking.  Laura shot up off the sofa, not caring what happened to her food. She stormed to her room, yanking out the box under her bed. She threw on her suit as fast as she could, making sure everything was in its correct place and secure before diving out the window. She didn’t know what she was going to do once she got there, but she did know one thing. It was going to get really messy.

 

 

Laura was on the roof of the building opposite of the stock market one, looking at the thugs through a pair of binoculars. She counted at least 5 on one of the floors, and 6 on the other. But the rest of the floors were deserted. Good. Laura didn’t want any casualties this time. Carmilla had disappeared from the roof, but Laura couldn’t see her amongst the others. She must be inside. She guessed this entire stunt was to draw Laura into a fight. She must really be stepping on some toes to have sparked such a trap.

 

“Mother must be really mad,” she muttered to herself, grinning a little. She was doing something right if they wanted to get rid of her this badly. She adjusted her mask, making sure it was firmly in place. While she knew that the Queen of Clubs was Carmilla, Carm was still blissfully unaware of her alter ego. She hadn’t decided if she wanted to reveal herself, to show Carmilla why she was so hurt, or to keep her in the dark a little more. After all, it wasn’t a simple case of revealing herself. If Carmilla knew she was the Yellow Shield, it would put her entire life in jeopardy. Then again, it might be entirely satisfying to watch Carm’s reaction when she discovered she had the Yellow Shield tied to a table, in her lair, and then let her go. That would be some nice revenge. Laura shook her head. This was a debate for another time. Right now, she had a building to take back and people to save. She took a deep breath, and aimed her gauntlet at the building ahead of her.

 

“Time to shine,” she said, before firing the grabbling hook.

 

 

The hook sank deep into the concrete building and held firmly. Laura gave it a sharp yank, then another. It wasn’t going to come free any time soon. She turned and fired again at the floor just behind her. Just like the first one, it wasn’t going to come unstuck. Laura took out the non-traction grip that her father had designed for such events, and clipped it onto the line. She took a deep breath, and then let herself fall a little, holding onto the grip as tightly as she could. As soon as she started to fall, the grip did its job, and took her flying down the line, straight towards the building. Laura tucked her feet up, making herself go even faster. She quickly pressed a button on her gauntlets and felt a single spike in each foot pop out, ready to strike the glass. She was travelling fast now, and braced herself for the impact that would occur as soon as she hit the window.

 

The window was coming up fast, but Laura was patient and waited until the last moment before kicking out her legs, allowing the spikes to connect with glass. As she expected, the glass shattered in a thousand pieces and she let go of the line grip, and flew into the building with ease. She tucked herself into a ball, and rolled forward, shifting her weight onto her feet and sliding to a halt. There was no way no one heard that, even though she was a floor above the 6 thugs. She had to move fast.

 

Laura sprinted over to the exit sign, slamming her body weight into the door and barreling down the stairs, two at a time. Just as she reached the last flight, the door ahead of her opened, and she braced and took off, flying through the air. The thug had no idea what hit him when Laura’s feet connected with his chest, and she grabbed onto his jacket to keep herself there as he fell backwards. When he hit the floor, she punched him quickly on his throat, making sure he stayed down. She heard guns cocking and voices shouting, and without hesitating released her shield. She felt it warp and absorb all the bullets that flew her way, giving her time to take in her surroundings. 3 thugs to her left, 2 more to her right, and a whole bunch of hostages in between. But because of her dramatic entrance, none of the thugs were aiming at the innocent people. Good. Laura wanted to keep it that way.

 

Laura darted forward, keeping her shield up, heading straight towards one of the thugs. He yelped, panicking when he saw his bullets were doing nothing to stop her. When she got close enough, he suddenly tried to hit her with the butt of his rifle, but it only caused her to take another step to regain her balance. In response, Laura reached out with her free hand, and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and yanked him forward, disengaging her shield at the same time. The thug flew towards her, and when he was completely off his feet, she brought her knee up into his stomach, before sending her other fist flying into his cheek. He smacked onto the ground, hard, but Laura wasn’t done with him yet. She yanked him up by the back of his jacket and held him up in front of her. She heard the gun fire stop as she aimed her new shield at the remaining thugs. She had to get rid of the one she was holding quick though; she was strong, but carrying a dead weight for this long wasn’t a good idea. So Laura roared as she gathered her strength and threw the body at one of them, causing him to be crushed by his fellow thug. While one was dealt with, Laura sprinted towards the other, but before she could reach him, he readjusted his aim and started firing. This time was a problem. There were a lot of workers in the way, and they were all frozen with fear. Laura slid under some of the desks that were between her and the thug, thankful that offices had a lot of desks in very small spaces.

 

 

The gun fire stopped, but only for a moment. He was reloading. Laura scrambled along the floor, blocking out the screams of those that didn’t want to be hit by bullets. She suddenly heard a sound above her and froze. He was above her, standing on the tables. The gun started firing again, and the bullets tore through the table. Laura dodged this way and that, wriggling out of their paths. She felt one hit her arm, then her leg and she hissed in pain.

 

“Come out, Shield!” the thug bellowed, but continued firing. Laura kept shuffling backwards until she hit the last table. She heard the boots above her stop, and heard him chuckle. But before he could say a witty remark, Laura kicked up hard, sending the table and the thug flying into the air and across the room. Laura followed quickly and grabbed him out of the air, throwing him to the ground. He gasped for air as it exploded out of him, and Laura swiftly kicked him in the jaw to knock him out.

 

Laura’s left shoulder suddenly rocketed forward a little, and she grimaced before turning slowly. The last thug had his handgun trained on her, but it was shaking as he saw that his efforts did little to stop her. Laura shook her arm a little, allowing the shield to come out again, and walked towards him slowly. The thug’s eyes went wild and he fired over and over again, but Laura kept on coming, her shield stopping them easily. She got within an arm’s reach of him when he threw the gun away, and tried to land a punch. But Laura deflected it easily before wrapping her own hand around his throat and holding him off the ground a little.

 

“Hello there,” she said, giving her best smile.

 

“Let go of me,” the thug demanded but that only made Laura squeeze her hand harder.

 

“Don’t be rude. Say hello.” Laura said, enjoying the power that came with this part.

 

“Hello,” the thug finally grunted out.

 

“That’s better. Now that pleasantries are out of the way, tell me where the Queen is.” The thug said nothing, but his eyes darted towards the other side of the room, where there was another door. Laura turned his attention back to him.

 

“Thank you, you have been most helpful,” Laura said sweetly, before letting his go and punching him in the nose, hard. She turned on her heel sharply and marched towards the door. She took a deep breath, bracing for whatever lay on the other side.

 

 

Laura kicked the door down without any effort, and enjoyed watching as it flew off its hinges. Laura saw her down the hall, just standing there, half facing her, half facing away. The Queen looked over her shoulder a little more, looking directly at Laura, smiling.

 

“You are just so predictable, sunflower,” she said, her voice distorted but so clearly Carmilla, “A little violence, a few hostages, a little smile… and you come running.”

 

“It’s over, Queenie,” Laura snarled, taking a step forward, bunching her fists, ready for a fight.

 

“Oh, creampuff… it’s not over until I say it is.” And with that, she took off running. Laura gave chase, stretching her legs as far as they would go to try and make up some ground. It worked a little, but the Queen was much faster than she had expected. On and on they ran, turning corner after corner. Laura was slowly gaining on her, and she was almost within reach. Suddenly Carmilla spun on her heals, and was now facing Laura.

 

Laura was too close to react, and so ran headfirst into Carmilla’s outstretched arm. Her feet kept going while her body was brought to a sudden halt, causing her to fly into the air and flop onto her back. She didn’t have time to register that she had no air in her lungs. A combat boot was flying towards her head. She blocked it, tossing it to one side before scrambling to her feet. The Queen was smirking at her.

 

“Oh I’ve missed you, dandelion,” she said, before throwing a flurry of punches at her. Laura went into defense, doing her best to block them all, but one got through, hitting her in the ribs. She hissed a little, but it didn’t really hurt that much; she did have extra thick skin after all. Carmilla however, was not expecting it to hurt her that much, and shook her hand a little. Now it was Laura’s turn to grin slyly.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry my ribs hurt your hand. Let me kiss it better,” Laura threw a right, then a left hook, before aiming a kick. But the Queen was fast, and avoided it all.

 

“Nothing would please me more,” she said, “But I’m afraid I have more pressing matters.” Laura’s blood boiled, but she kept herself in check.

 

“Oh yeah, hot date?” Laura couldn’t help but spit out. Carmilla hesitated, and that was enough for Laura. She ran forward, ducking low and slamming into the Queen with her shoulder, picking her up a little. She didn’t stop running until she felt them both slamming into the wall. Laura backed up enough to send her fists flying at Carmilla’s torso. She heard the Queen grunting above her as she tried to fend her off. Danny had been right; this did feel amazing.

 

Carmilla managed to get a knee in between them and used it to kick Laura off of her, hard. Laura hadn’t been expecting, and lost her balance a lot more than she should have, giving Carmilla the chance to run again. Laura huffed. She hated running this much. She watched as Carmilla dived into another door, that lead to another set of stairs. She groaned. She was going to be seriously sore tomorrow. Grumbling to herself, Laura took off running, and burst through the door after her. She looked over the banister, seeing how far the Queen had gotten. For how little a head start she had had, Carmilla had made it quite far, at least three sets down. Laura looked beyond her target, and noticed that the floor wasn’t actually that far down. A plan flashed in her mind, and she immediately and simultaneously hated it and loved it. She climbed over the banister, resting on it a little.

 

“Yeah, great plan, Hollis,” she murmured to herself, and let herself fall over the edge. She plummeted down fast, but she adjusted and before she knew it, she was reaching out to grab the Queen with both of her hands. She latched onto one of her arms with one hand and the Queen’s cape with the other. Her grip caused her to slow dramatically, and she swung her legs under herself, planting her feet on the side of the steps. Then, while she still had momentum, she pulled with all her might, using her body as a lever, and pulled Carmilla over the edge with her. Carmilla was so stunned at this, that she couldn’t do anything but obey following this new and sudden change of direction. The Queen was suddenly falling, and Laura was behind her. But unlike the Queen, Laura had been expecting this, and so kept up the spinning movement just enough so that when she hit the ground, she was able to jump and roll with ease. Carmilla however, hadn’t been so lucky. Instead, she had slammed onto the ground on her back. Laura almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

 

Laura stood up slowly, her back to the Queen. She turned slowly, looking at her enemy. She was on her back, gasping for air like a fish out of water, one of her feet twitching slightly. Laura marched over, grabbing her by the buckles on her outfit and pushed her so that she was sitting against the bottom of the stairs. Carmilla grimaced at the movement, but after she recovered a little, let out a small laugh.

 

“I knew a cape was a bad idea,” Carmilla groaned out, trying to catch her breath back but failing, so instead chuckled a little, “Damn, cupcake… you’ve got some moves.” She said quietly, holding her ribs with one hand, almost admitting defeat. Laura stood over her, looking down at the girl that betrayed her, trying to keep her anger in check. It wasn’t working particularly well.

 

“What did you want from here?” Laura asked. Carmilla simply laughed at her.

 

“Oh, you’re going to have to do better than that.” She replied, smirking up at her, before spitting out a little blood. Laura clenched her teeth, feeling her insides clench a little with concern. She shook her head, getting rid of those feelings.

 

“Don’t make me ask again.”

 

“You just did.” Carmilla laughed again, and Laura was struggling to keep her cool.

 

“Is everything a joke to you?!” she suddenly blurted out. The Queen shrugged.

 

“I’m not the one called Yellow Shield.” She replied. Laura clenched her fists, shaking a little in anger. She hated how cocky Carmilla was, even as she sat in pain. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug smile off of her face. And in that moment, she knew exactly how. This time, it was Laura’s turn to chuckle.

 

“You know, I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you,” Laura said turning and taking a few steps away from her.

 

“Oh really? Please, enlighten me as to why.”

 

“Because I know exactly who you are, Miss Karnstein.” Laura looked over her shoulder just enough to see Carmilla’s face drop.

 

“Impossible…” she breathed, “How could you-”

 

“How could I possibly know that?” Laura finished the question, and took a deep breath before removing her mask and turned off her voice altering device. She turned and faced Carmilla completely and watched with silent glee and Carmilla’s mouth hung over and her expression turned to a mix of confusion and fear. “I know that, because you told me.”

 

“Laura?” Carmilla said, removing her own helmet, as if that would change what she saw in front of her.

 

“I guess neither of us were truly who we said we were.” Laura said, her voice dripping with bitterness. She heard the sounds of gunfire behind her, and she snapped her attention towards it. She replaced the mask on her face, turned back on the voice distorter and gave one final look at Carmilla, who was still in shock. “Now if you’ll excuse me, duty calls.”

 

“No wait!” Carmilla shouted but Laura ignored her. Her blood was pumping and her brain struggling to keep up with what had just happened. That was not what she intended to happen at all.

 

 

Laura broke through the doors, ready for a fight like before. But the floor was deserted, apart from one person in the centre of the room.

 

“Hello, Shield.” It said, their voice far deeper than Carmilla’s or Mattie’s had been. Laura rolled her eyes.

 

“And who are you meant to be?” she asked, annoyed at his presence.

 

“I am the Jack of Spades,” he said, holding his arms open, as if welcoming her to some grand ball.

 

“Seriously?” Laura said, annoyed beyond all belief, “How many of you are there?”

 

“I’m sure you would love to know that,” he said, making his way towards her, his hands behind his back, his face hidden completely by his mask which a huge spade on it in gold. The only thing Laura would see were his cold, hungry eyes. The rest of his outfit was black and gold, in quarters of each colour. It wasn’t as elaborate as Mattie’s or even Carmilla’s, but it was certainly obvious that they were all part of the same thing. “But if you don’t mind, I would just prefer to put an end to your meddling.” Laura let out a laugh.

 

“Alright newbie, I’d like to see you try.” The Jack sprinted towards her, but he was slow and clumsy, so she hopped over him easily enough. He tried to adjust and throw a punch, but Laura saw it coming and so blocked it, and threw a kick at him. Her foot connected with the side of his head and he flew across the room, sliding along the floor a little. He didn’t move, and Laura frowned, confused. Was that it? She shrugged and was about to leave when she remembered Carmilla on the stairs.

 

She sprinted back to door and threw it open, but it was too late. Carmilla was already gone. She cursed a little to herself. So, the Queen knew who she was. Now, she had to rely on Carmilla to care about her just enough to not tell anyone who she was. It was a long shot, but it might just work. Might being the optimum word.

 

Laura huffed as she walked through the room again towards the lift. She waited patiently for it to arrive, and then stepped into it, pressing the button for the ground floor. It wasn’t until the lift doors closed that she finally relaxed. She knew Danny would be outside with the police, trying to figure out how to best enter the building. She would slip out the back to avoid another firefight. Even though Laura was on the same side as the law, she was still a wanted target according to Danny. And she wasn’t ready to give up just yet. After all, she had an ex to put in prison.

 

 

When Laura burst through the back door, ignoring the police sirens that she could hear coming from the front of the building, she saw a long motorbike sitting there, waiting perfectly for something. She walked up to it slowly, not trusting it at all. There was a note attached to the handlebars, and she read it quickly.

 

_Follow the GPS if you want to finish what we started – Q x_

 

Laura’s blood boiled, and without hesitating, she hopped on the bike and took off down the road. She followed every instruction from the GPS voice, and found herself being taken out of the main city to the warehouse district. It made her stop next to one that she recognized, back when she first encountered the Queen. Well, not encountered her, but encountered some of her operation. She had been so busy with everything else, that she had forgotten all about it. She was going to mentally kick herself for that later, but right now she had to focus. She had to find Carmilla, and work out what she was up to.

 

Laura snuck in quickly and quietly, managing to avoid most of the guards. There were less than she was expecting, and thought they were perhaps all inside. She was wrong. There wasn’t anyone inside. Apart from the Queen, sitting at a table right in the middle, facing her.

 

“You made it,” Carmilla said, and her voice was normal, unaffected by the distorter. It sounded so smooth, so inviting that Laura almost lost herself. She shook her head a little, stealing herself up completely before marching forward, ready for a fight.

 

“For some reason, I envisioned you to be living in a dark dungeon somewhere,” Laura retorted, stirring up a chuckle.

 

“I’m so flattered that you think about me, cupcake,” she said, calmly standing up, and moving around to lean against the table, directly in front of Laura. On her walk over, Laura took the time to take in her surroundings. The warehouse was filled with boxes of a brand of lemonade. They went on as far as she could see. When she was a few mentres away from her, Laura stopped and nodded towards the boxes.

 

“You and your gang sure must be thirsty.”

 

“Only when I’m thinking about you late at night,” she said smoothly, looking at Laura out from under her eyebrows, biting her lower lip a little. Laura cocked her head to one side.

 

“Are you seriously flirting with me?” Carmilla shrugged, her huge shoulder pads lifting and falling dramatically.

 

“That depends is it working?” she asked, biting her lip again. Laura clenched her jaw.

 

“No,” she barked out, but it was so unconvincing that not even she believed it. Carmilla laughed loudly, throwing her head back a little as she did.

 

“Alright, creampuff. Whatever you say.”

 

“Look,” Laura said suddenly, pointing her finger at Carmilla hoping to be threatening, “I don’t have time for games. I’m taking you to the police station and you are going to be locked up for a long time.”

 

“Is that so?” she said, pushing herself off the table and walking slowly, oh so slowly, over towards Laura. Laura couldn’t help but stare, swallow and her mouth hung open a little at the sight. She shook her head again, reminding herself of why she had to stop the Queen.

 

“Yes, that is so. You are evil, and need to be locked behind bars.”

 

“Are you saying that I’ve been a bad girl?” Carmilla asked, her voice dropping low and going husky. Laura felt her cheeks heat up uncontrollably, cause her enemy to chuckle. Laura, in an attempt to shut her up, reached forward, grabbing one of Carmilla’s wrists and yanking it behind her back. But the Queen was crafty, and easily reversed it, spinning on her toes and pulling Laura in close against her front. Laura’s eyes couldn’t help but dart quickly to Carmilla’s lips, and Carmilla smirked at the slightly smaller heroine.

 

“You didn’t think you could capture me so easily, did you?” Carmilla sneered, urging Laura on. She broke free of the grip and threw the Queen over her shoulder with ease, slamming her body onto the table. Before Carmilla had a chance to recover, Laura was sat on top of her, using her legs to pin her arms to her side, one fist raised and ready to strike.

 

“I won’t ask again, what are you planning?” Laura demanded, but the Queen beneath her simply smirked at her.

 

“Sorry, cutie,” she said, shrugging her shoulders a little, “I’m far too distracted by the pretty girl straddling me right now.”

 

“This isn’t a game!” Laura suddenly shouted, her patience being pushed to the limit, “You are still evil no matter who you are under the helmet. I won’t forgive you, so you can drop the flirting act.” Laura saw the wince of pain on Carmilla’s face at her words, and ignored the ache in her chest. She shook her head a little, breathing to ease the dull pain, forcing herself to focus, “Just tell me what the plan is.”

 

Carmilla opened her mouth to answer, or say another comment about how cute she was, Laura wasn’t sure which it would be, but before she could say a word the door on the opposite side of the room banged open. Laura snapped her head to the new arrivals and her stomach dropped. Not only did a bunch of thugs pour into the room, but in walked the Queen of Hearts, floating in like she owned the place. She probably did, now Laura thought about it.

 

One of the thugs spotted her, and they all converged on her location, their guns raised. Giving one last look at the woman beneath her, Laura huffed. She had to retreat, she knew that. So, she scrambled off the table, kicking herself mentally for getting so distracted by Carmilla again. She sprinted towards the other exit, running this way and that as the thugs opened fire. She felt one hit her back but she kept going. It was going to need icing later, but now was not the time to register the pain; now was the time for running. Once she was outside, she launched herself onto the rooftops and headed for home. There was no point in sticking around. Now she knew where the hideout was, she could come back. That was probably the Queen’s plan all along, but she was going to fall for it. After all, the only way she seemed to get close to Carmilla was if it was on her terms. While this frustrated Laura to no end, at least it gave her plenty of opportunities to try and take her down. Next time, she wouldn’t hold back or be so distracted. Next time, Laura was going to end this.

 

 

As Laura climbed in through her bedroom window, she heard the TV playing softly from the other room. She quickly changed, and opened her door, finishing off pulling her shirt on. Danny was just standing there, staring at the evening news.

 

“Danny?” Laura asked, but the tall woman didn’t reply. Laura went to stand by her side and stared at the screen with her.

 

“A few minutes ago,” the presenter stated clearly, his expression unchanging, “We received footage from the notorious villain calling themselves, the Queen of Clubs, clearly stating that unless their demands are met, they will blow up the stadium tomorrow at noon during the biggest game of the season.” The footage cut away to a distorted video, but it was most definitely her.

 

“The Mayor of Silas will relinquish his power over to me,” she demanded, her voice even more distorted than normal, “And if he does not, than you will force me to do something that I will not regret.” The screen cut back to the reporter, who was just staring out at them with cold eyes.

 

“The chief of police has assured the public that these demands will be taken seriously, but the game tomorrow will not be cancelled. Security will be doubled, and he has confidence in his team that any threat will be eliminated before anyone is hurt.”

 

“You’d better stop her tomorrow,” Danny suddenly said, her voice cutting into Laura like a dagger. Laura nodded, knowing she was right. This wasn’t just a simple case of facing a villain. This wasn’t about getting over an ex. This was about saving lives. This is what she had been trained to do her entire life. And she wasn’t going to fail. She couldn’t. The price for failure had never been higher.

 

***

 

Will looked down at his phone, watching the dot move across the screen with speed. He raised one eyebrow, impressed. He knew this Yellow Shield was fast, but he didn’t think she was that fast. He had gotten a taste of how good she was in the stock market building, and how quickly she had disposed of him. Or at least, she thought she had. He actually hadn’t felt it at all, instead only pretending to be unconscious. He had done what he needed to by then. And she had no idea.

 

He looked up at the sky as the dot moved over him. He saw her leap over the gap between the buildings and smiled. She hadn’t made him yet. Good. He didn’t feel like getting into another fight. Too much effort. And it would be hard to explain to Laf how he got the bruises if he did.

 

Will moved down the street, slowly following the dot. Suddenly it stopped and he caught up to it, carefully making sure she wasn’t just pausing to see if someone was following her. But she wasn’t. It looked like she was inside a building, from how slowly she was moving now. She must be home. Will looked up and down the street and suddenly realized he knew where he was. He frowned. This couldn’t be right.

 

He followed the dot a little more, and came to a stop outside the correct building. He frowned, and looked up. He knew this building. This was where Laura lived. Either this was a strange coincidence, or something was dreadfully wrong. Will tapped a few buttons on his phone and switched the view to see which floor this Yellow Shield was on. The fourth floor. He looked at the listings for the apartments. Hollis and Lawrence, 4-05.

 

Will couldn’t help but laugh. He knew he had seen that hair before. Something about the Shield had been so familiar, but this wasn’t what he had expected.

 

“So, now I know your dirty little secret, Hollis,” he muttered to himself, sneering an evil grin, “What I wonder, would hurt you the most?” he tapped on the listings, directly at Lawrence, and his mind started racing. Time to do, what he did best.


	10. Chapter 10

Laura was perched on top of her usual building, listening to the police scanner intensely. If Carmilla and her gang were going to strike, she was going to know about it. The mayor had given an official statement that he would not be giving in to her demands, and had complete trust in the police force to stop any threats that may arise. While Laura also trusted the police, she could get there faster, and she wasn’t going to let Carmilla escape again. Not this time. 

The police scanner wasn’t producing anything of importance, so Laura allowed her mind to wander. It had been a full 24 hours since she revealed herself to Carmilla, and nothing had happened. Her face wasn’t plastered everywhere, there were no police at her door that morning. It was as if she didn’t care. Or perhaps, she cared too much. Laura mostly wanted it to be the first reason, but a small part of her wanted it to be the second. She shook her head. She couldn’t think like that. She couldn’t afford to let her emotions get the better of her. Not this time. Revealing herself had been foolish and rash, but it had seemed so important at the time. It has seemed so necessary, so vital that Carmilla knew who she was, who she was fighting. Almost as if it would have somehow changed her mind about being the villain of Silas. But her message to the city had been clear; power or destruction. Clearly, knowing who the Yellow Shield was made no difference to the Queen of Clubs. 

Laura shook her head, shaking away these thoughts. She had to focus. People were counting on her to save them, and she wasn’t going to let them down, not this time. She would fight Carm, she would win, and the Queen would be dethroned. The thought of that made Laura smile, and she started to imagine how shocked the rest of the world would be when the famous Carmilla Karnstein was discovered to be the hated Queen of Clubs. She imagined her coworkers asking if she knew anything about it, and her totally innocent response of:

“Of course not, how could I know that? This is so horrible, I can’t believe it.”

She was so busy imaging this that she almost missed a report coming in over the scanner. 

“All officers, we have multiple sightings of the Queen’s thugs around the Vordenburg factory, be advised the Queen may be there. All available squads please respond,” Laura stopped listening and stood up. The old Vordenburg factory. She knew exactly where that was, and if past experience taught her anything it was that this was a set up. Carmilla would most certainly be there, and she most certainly knew that Laura would come running. She absent mindedly ran her finger over her utility belt, making sure everything was there, before running and jumping from one roof to the other, making her way quickly towards the factory district. She wasn’t too far away, and she would make it there long before any of the police did; the factory area was deep within the downtown area, far from any precinct and surrounded by violent competing gangs. Or at least what passed for violent gangs in Silas. But Laura wasn’t afraid. She was only after one person. No one else mattered. Not today. 

She had been right; she had made it there long before any of the police cars. There was no point going around it to find a back door or open window somewhere. Carmilla would have thought of that, and shut everything down, sealing off all entrances but the front. Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She’d always thought dealing with a regular ex was difficult, but this was a whole other level. Maybe she should write all this down one day, sell the story once this was all over. A story about how a hero fell for a villain, wouldn’t that be a great story?

Laura opened the main door to the factory as hard as she could, and walked in, steeling her nerves and allowing her anger to rise up inside of her. The factory inside was pitch black and Laura struggled to see anything as she walked in more and more. Suddenly the door behind her slammed shut and she spun around, but it was no use; she was in total darkness. She could hear boots, footsteps, walking slowly, forcefully towards her. Laura touched a finger to her mask, activating the night vision, curing slightly at the thought of having to tell her dad that his stupid overprotectiveness had actually come in handy. As the vision warmed up, the sound of the boots got louder, and Laura took a small step back, trying to get away from the sound. Suddenly her vision sprang into life, and she braced herself for Carmilla to be right in front of her. But she wasn’t there. 

Laura looked around her, but Carmilla was nowhere to be seen. The footsteps were still going, and they sounded so close, like they were right on top of her. Laura looked up, and sure enough, she saw two boots walking slowly above her on a metal grated walkway. 

“Fancy gadgets you have there, Sunshine,” Carmilla said, her voice undistorted, her tone playful. Laura growled a little, but smirked, thinking up a response. 

“All the better to see you with,” she responded, feeling quite smug about it. Carmilla laughed, her voice low and distractingly sexual. 

“Well, I can’t complain. I do so enjoy the roaming eyes of pretty girls,” Carmilla said as she glided down the stairs and finally walked towards Laura. Her pace was agonizingly slow, each step overly exaggerated, and Laura’s eyes couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the sway of her hips. Laura shook her head. Now was most definitely not the time. 

“I’m not sorry to say, you won’t enjoy this,” Laura growled, and sprinted forward, ready to attack, arm raised, poised to strike. Carmilla didn’t move, didn’t even flinch. Laura thought she had her; land an early blow and win the battle, as her grandfather used to say. 

Without warning, her vision erupted into a brilliant white light, blinding her. Laura yelped, collapsing in on herself, trying to shut her eyes hard enough to block out the burning light. She felt herself hit the ground, winding her a little. She scrambled as fast as she could to find the switch on her mask to turned off the night vision, and when it did, she breathed a sigh of relief. She blinked a few times, readjusting her eyes to the nonwhite light. She looked up to see Carmilla smirking down at her from behind her helmet. 

“Who knew you would look so pretty down there, creampuff?” the Queen remarked, barely holding back a chuckle of amusement. Laura sprang to her feet, standing directly in front of Carmilla, staring directly into her eyes, their bodies almost touching (not that Laura noticed that of course).

“It’s over, Queenie. Time to turn yourself in and stop with whatever it is that you’re planning.” 

“Please, Laura, it’s just us here. You could at least use my name.” 

“I’m not the one that started the nickname game, and stop changing the subject! This is serious.”

“Fine. Tell me how serious this all is then, sunshine.”

“You’re threatening to hurt the people of this city, my city. I can’t let you do that just so you can sit on a throne.”

“Well, aren’t you a buzzkill,” Carmilla sounded so bored and unamused, angering Laura beyond her control. 

“Yes I’m a buzzkill, but I’m a buzzkill that’s going to stop you.”

“Oh, you’re going to stop me? You don’t even know my plans.”

“I don’t need to, I can just beat you now, and throw you in jail, and then you can’t carry out your plans, so HA!” yes, Laura had gotten a little carried away, and that had not gone according to plan at all. Carmilla laughed again, throwing her head back, her voice booming out around the empty factory as if it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. 

“Oh really?” she said, still laughing slightly, “and now exactly are you going to do that?” it was Laura’s turn to flash her own evil grin as she flicked out her baton. 

“Like this.”

Before Carmilla could do anything, Laura brought the baton up and struck her hard on the side of the head. It snapped to the side, throwing the Queen off balance, and Laura seized the opportunity to land another blow, sweeping her baton across the back of Carmilla’s legs. She went tumbling down onto the concrete floor with a grunt as the wind was knocked out of her. Laura moved quickly, pinning her to the floor, her legs holding Carmilla’s arms in place by her side, leaving Laura’s free to do what they pleased. Carmilla however, seemed unfazed by the position they were in. 

“Who knew you liked to be on top so much?” she joked, and Laura hesitated, confused and flustered. Why did she have to be so distracting? Carmilla saw her moment, and pushed against the back of Laura’s legs, making her fly over her head and off of her. Laura shifted her weight, rolling expertly so she was on all fours, looking at her opponent. She had to focus. The Queen was winning this, toying with her. And Laura wasn’t going to let her get away with it. 

Laura sprang forward, trying to land blow after blow, but Carmilla kept dodging her, avoiding her fists and legs as she punched and kicked with all her might. But Carmilla wasn’t attacking, only defending. Laura was getting nowhere fast. She broke off her attacks and looked around quickly. The factory was empty, apart from the walkway above. That would do. She sprinted towards the stairs and went up them two at a time, before she realized that Carmilla wasn’t following her. Laura stopped running and instead began to walk slowly along the metal path, feeling the Queen watching her intensely. She wasn’t going to admit it, but she liked that feeling. She shook her head.

“Not the time, Hollis,” she hissed at herself. 

“Are you trying to be taller than me for once?” Carmilla said, sniggering a little. Laura faked a laugh, before pulling out another one of her so called fancy gadgets, and aimed it at the ground below, right under Carmilla’s feet. 

“Nope. I’m just curious to see if you can land on your feet,” and Laura pulled the trigger. The device shot out its contents, and when it connected with the floor, it exploded. Carmilla was consumed by dust and rubble, and Laura wasted no time. Switching her vision to thermal, she jumped down into the now gaping hole in the floor, watching how Carmilla was falling to the floor below. She aimed herself so that her feet were on either side of her falling victim. When the smoke cleared, the Queen looked up, groaning in pain, and saw the powerful glare of Laura. Laura took a moment to register where they were. It was an old storage room, full of old furniture; desks and their chairs, and old computer monitors. Lots of things to throw Carmilla into. 

Before Carmilla had a chance to catch her breath again, Laura grabbed her by the straps on her suit, lifting her off the floor with ease before spinning and throwing her across the room. Carmilla’s back hit the wall hard, and she let out a groan as the wind got knocked out of her for a second time. Laura wasted no time in attacking, throwing a fist at her head, but Carmilla was quick to notice and ducked out of the way with, sending the blow into the wooden wall behind her. Laura growled as Carmilla slipped away from her, walking slowly into the middle of the abandoned room. 

“I see you’re still mad, creampuff. Maybe we should just talk this out,” Carmilla said, her tone mocking. 

“Of course I am! And don’t call me creampuff!” Laura charged forward, throwing blow after blow, but Carmilla blocked them all like it was nothing, smirking the entire time. Before Laura knew what was happening, Carmilla had locked her arms and they were suddenly very close, for all the wrong reasons. 

“Sorry sunshine, you know I can’t resist your pathetic attempts at flirting.”

“I’m not flirting, I’m trying to hit you!” 

Carmilla chuckled. “Someone’s a little grumpy today. And is that anyway to speak to a lady?” 

Laura broke free of her grip and put some distance between them, trying to regain control of the situation. 

“You’re no lady, and I’m not flirting. We are enemies. You’re a villain, I’m a hero, we are destined to fight each other.” 

“Destined? Since when do you believe in the cosmos and all that?”

“Since always… we only went on like four dates, you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I know you, Laura. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Oh yeah? Well I know you too… I know that you’re a liar and you’ll never be anything but a bad person.”

Carmilla cocked her head to the side and snorted, her mouth curling into a lopsided smirk.

“Well at least that’s better than being a dork…”

“You’re so smug,” Laura shot back, taking slow steps forward, and Carmilla mirrored her actions. 

“And you’re delusional.”

“You’re condescending.”

“Tightly-wound,”

“Uncaring-”

“Do gooder-”

“Evil little-” Laura couldn’t stop herself. They were too close and she was so angry; she just wanted to feel something else. Before she could finish her insult, she ripped off Carmilla’s helmet and didn’t give her a chance to object before kissing her. Hard.

Carmilla stumbled back a little from the force, and moaned, wraping her arms around Laura to pull her in closer, but Laura wasn’t going to let her have control. She was angry, she was hurt. She needed this; a lot more than she thought she did. 

Before Carmilla could overpower her, Laura grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled hard. Carmilla’s head was yanked backwards, and she gasped loudly, closing her eyes and allowing herself to go weak as Laura’s lips fixated on her neck. She could feel how fast Carmilla’s heart was racing, and pushed herself against the villain further, pushing them back into the wall. Carmilla gasped, her hands reaching and grasping at Laura, trying to find something to hold onto, trying pull them closer together. Laura didn’t let up, pushing a knee between Carmilla’s legs as she began biting lightly at her neck. Every time Carmilla tried to regain some control, Laura tugged at her hair a little harder, pushed a little more, never letting her have an ounce of power. She had been lied to, deceived and fooled. She wasn’t going to let Carmilla get the better of her this time. 

Laura movements were becoming more urgent. She could feel a heat building inside of her, and from the sounds coming from Carmilla, she wasn’t far behind. Laura finally pulled away from her neck, and looked up. Carmilla’s eyes were closed, she was biting her bottom lip a little and breathing heavily. When she opened her eyes, Laura got lost in them; they were full of a hunger that she hadn’t seen before, full of a dark longing. Laura kissed her again, a little softer, but full of a passion she had never experienced before. 

Carmilla’s hand was on the side of Laura’s face before she could stop it, her touch light, a thumb gently caressing her cheek. It was Laura’s turn to groan with pleasure. Feeling her anger slipping away and brought her back to reality. Laura forced herself to remember how it had felt to see Carmilla standing there, after Mattie had forced the reveal. How Carmilla had been responsible for so much damage, and death. How she was threatening people again, even when she knew Laura knew who she was. As the anger returned, Laura forced the kiss to escalate, removing all passion. She yanked Carmilla’s hand away from her face, and pinned it to wall. With her free hand, Laura tugged at Carmilla’s belt, her hands eager to get rid of it. Carmilla broke off the kiss and took a deep, shaky breath. 

“Laura-” Carmilla breathed out, but Laura didn’t let her say anything else, just kissed her again, allowing her frustration to overpower her, driving her on. If she knew anything about Carmilla, she would be asking if Laura was sure she wanted this. And Laura had never been more sure of anything before. She had wanted to do this for a long time. Although she had imagined that it would be on a bed, at least. But she guessed a wall would have to make do.

Laura began pulling at Carmilla’s belt, clumsily undoing it with her one free hand. She pulled back from the kiss just enough to rip off her own mask, casting it aside and then releasing her grip on Carmilla’s arm. She was going to need two hands for this. Carmilla’s now free hand wrapped around Laura immediately, her hands clinging to her back. Laura couldn’t help but throw her head back a little as strong fingers began to dig into her back, and Carmilla seized the opportunity to begin nipping at her neck. Laura could feel her knees go weak and she let out a moan. But this wasn’t what she wanted. Carmilla was getting her way.

With all the will power she had, she fought back, pushing her leg further up between Carmilla’s, causing her to gasp and pull away from Laura’s neck. Laura took advantage of this, her hands flying to the clasps on Carmilla’s armour, undoing them with sure fingers. She worked fast, not liking how little contact was between them, eager to feel Carmilla’s skin again, eager find out how she tasted. 

The armour fell away with the last clasp and Laura couldn’t toss it away fast enough. Once it was out of the way, Laura rushed in, one hand back in Carmilla’s hair and the other finally able to feel the warmth of her chest, and now it was her turn to make Carmilla shudder under her touch. Her hand reached the underside of one of Carmilla’s breasts and she heard a gasp. They broke off their kiss, but hovered close, lightly brushing their lips together, feeling the tension and passion between them.

Laura moved her hand upwards, adding the right amount of pressure to arouse another gasp from Carmilla. She continued, allowing her fingers to run up her chest, allowing them to trace along her collarbone, feeling how fast Carmilla was breathing with each stroke. She moved her fingers across a little more, feeling the cool metal of a zip. Laura began to pull at it, antagonizing slowly. Carmilla was getting impatient, Laura could tell. She thrust her hips forward into Laura at the same time as pulling at Laura’s lower back, forcing their hips to grind together. Out of shock and pleasure, Laura yanked on the zipper hard, forcing it down much faster than she wanted to. She growled a little, leaning in close to Carmilla’s ear. 

“That was unfair,” she snarled, running a finger up and down Carmilla’s now exposed sternum, feeling each shudder as she did. She swallowed as she realized that Carmilla wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Who said I play fair?” Carmilla breathed, teasing her, urging Laura to do something.

Laura paused, then titled her head, smirking slyly. She bit her lip a little and raised an eyebrow at Carmilla before carrying out her plan. In one smooth movement, Laura had fully unzipped Carmilla’s suit down to her belt and pulled the shoulders down over the top of Carmilla’s arms. She felt Carmilla’s hands being pulled away from her, and took the smallest of steps away, hearing Carmilla protest with a groan at the lack of contact. Laura didn’t like it either, and was longing to be close again, but she wanted to take her time. She wanted to be slow, and she wanted Carmilla to beg for it. Laura wanted to punish her for all the things that she had done. 

So instead, she took the time to look at the gasping woman in front of her. Her skin looked so soft, and Laura couldn’t help but reach out and touch it, moving her hands around the inside of her suit, running her nails down Carmilla’s back. She moved her hands around to the front, making their way up to Carmilla’s breasts. Laura bit her lip again at the sight of how hard her nipples were already, and gently flicked them. Carmilla gasped louder, her head moving closer to Laura. She looked up at her, and without thinking, Laura took Carmilla’s bottom lip in her teeth and sucked hard before letting go and giving her an even harder kiss. Carmilla returned the kiss, soaking up as much of the contact as she could, trying and failing to touch Laura, her hands still held back by her own suit. Laura couldn’t help but smile to herself. Her plan was working perfectly. 

She began to massage Carmilla’s breasts, squeezing roughly as she did. Carmilla’s breathing sped up a little, and she started to struggle to keep up with Laura’s mouth. Laura took the distraction to focus on other things, and instead kissed and nipped her way along Carmilla’s jaw line and down to her neck again. She dragged her teeth along the soft sensitive skin, and then when she got to her collar bone, she bit down lightly. Carmilla let out a loud moan and her hips jerked into Laura’s, looking for release, for friction, for anything to help with the pleasure she was feeling building inside. Laura couldn’t help but chuckle a little at Carmilla’s desperation. She bit down again, and got the same reaction, moving her leg to meet each desperate jerk, but not enough to actually help at all. Carmilla whined a little and Laura moved without thinking, pinning Carmilla’s hips to the wall hard, ensuring she couldn’t move a muscle. 

She heard Carmilla whine again, and felt her struggle, but Laura was stronger than she looked, and she didn’t let up. Instead, she began kissing and nipping her way down Carmilla’s chest to her breasts, savoring each moment, listening to Carmilla’s breaths become harsher and deeper. Finally, much to Carmilla’s relief, Laura’s mouth reached her nipple. She smirked as she gently placed her lips around it, grazing her teeth on its perked tip. Carmilla gasped, her head throwing back and slamming into the wall. Laura brushed the head of the other nipple with her thumb, flicking it every so often as she continued to suck and nibble on the one in her mouth. With her other hand, she ran her fingers down between them, brushing them down her abdomen. She felt Carmilla twitch and shudder at each touch and she smirked again. 

She stood up suddenly, her hands staying where they were, her eyes fixed on Carmilla’s face. 

“If you move, or touch me,” Laura growled, “Then I stop. Nod if you understand.” 

Carmilla looked at Laura before nodding eagerly, her twitching stomach trying its best to not react as Laura didn’t stop her fingers from brushing against the smooth skin. Laura couldn’t help but feel powerful in this moment. She was in control. For the first time in a while, she felt strong again. 

Laura grabbed the suit that was still wrapped around Carmilla’s arms, and in one movement, yanked on it as hard as she could as she dropped to the floor. The suit followed her down, flowing easily over Carmilla’s skin. It pooled at her feet, and Carmilla was all too happy to help get rid of it. With her hands on her ankles, Laura stood up again slowly, allowing her hands to feel the toned muscles of her calves, then her thighs. They stopped as they reached just under her butt cheeks, and she tightened her grip, digging her fingers in a little too hard. Without warning, Laura lifted Carmilla clean off the ground, high enough for Carmilla to get the message. She wrapped her legs around Laura’s hips and clung on with everything she had. Laura moved her hands up and over her butt, and wrapped them around her back, making sure Carmilla wouldn’t fall. She then turned and walked with ease, until she felt her knees slam into what she was looking for. She almost threw Carmilla down on the already breaking table, causing her to hiss in pain. Laura wasted no time in grabbing Carmilla’s wrists and placed them against the table above her head.

“Don’t move them,” Laura growled, and Carmilla nodded, earning a feverish kiss from Laura. Laura broke the kiss quickly, eager to push Carmilla to her limit. Finally, she would know what it felt like to be out of control, to be toyed with by another. 

Laura’s lips knew exactly what they were doing. She found every sensitive spot on Carmilla’s neck; just under her ear, on her pulse point, where her collarbone and neck met. She kept going down, her hands massaging Carmilla’s breasts a little, earning a moan. When Laura reached her waist, she broke away, and pulled Carmilla down the table so her hips were resting just at the edge, and sank to her knees. Laura heard Carmilla moan in frustration as Laura began to run her hands along her thighs lightly, and kissed up along the inside of one leg, and then the other, and Carmilla groaned. 

“Please, Laura-” she whimpered but Laura simply stood up, and placed a finger against Carmilla’s lips.

“Only speak when I tell you to,” she ordered, and Carmilla nodded again. 

Laura smirked at the sight of the villain’s hands twitching, eager and wanting to touch her. Laura used her finger to trace her way back down her body until she returned to her kneeling position between Carmilla’s thighs. She was still wearing her underwear, black and lacy. Very sexy. But it had to go. 

Laura slid her fingers along the waist band of them, and then gently started to pull the fabric down her legs. Carmilla couldn’t kick them off fast enough. And there she was, completely exposed, completely vulnerable, and completely at Laura’s mercy. 

Laura ran her hands up the inside of Carmilla’s thighs, too lightly, too slowly. Her hips twitched, unable to hold back her wanting. Laura wrapped her arms under her legs, hoisting them up so they sat on her shoulders, her hands finding Carmilla’s hips to keep them in place. She heard Carmilla moan and her head hit the table as Laura’s tongue began teasing her, licking long and soft through her folds. Each lick purposely missed her clit, and Laura could feel Carmilla fight against her instinct to reach out, hands wanting her to increase the pressure, to allow her some release. But it wasn’t up to Carmilla. Laura was in charge. And Laura was in an unforgiving mood. 

Laura slowly increased the tempo, occasionally sending sparks rippling through Carmilla, before flicking her tongue and sucking a little on her clit, keeping Carmilla on the edge, frustrating her to no end. She could hear Carmilla whimpering and whining in annoyance and pleasure. Laura ran one hand up Carmilla’s chest, up to her breast, and began massaging it again, teasing and pulling at her nipples. Her other hand moved out from under her leg, and Laura used her thumb to rub her clit, but still softly. Carmilla shuddered hard, her hips trying to push down on Laura’s hand and face. Laura pulled back and stood up a little, looking at Carmilla. 

“I thought I told you not to move,” she said, smirking, and Carmilla looked at her in a panic.

Laura didn’t let up with her movements, but replaced her tongue with a finger, massaging and teasing her entrance. Carmilla whimpered as she bit her lip, her hips twitching a little. Without warning, Laura pushed her finger inside, and Carmilla cried out. Laura eased herself in and out, slowly at first, allowing Carmilla to get used to her being inside. Then she started increasing her speed, using her thumb to occasionally flick her clit again. She could feel Carmilla’s pleasure building steadily, and sped up her movements again, watching as the girl below her began to come undone. 

Laura increased her pace once more, before adding another finger. Carmilla gasped at the stretch and her hands flew from their spot to entangle themselves in Laura’s hair. Laura chuckled a little, and still her movements, pulling back enough to look at Carmilla. She looked confused then horrified as she realized what she had done. 

“You moved.” Laura said, her voice low and slow, a slight giggle escaping. Carmilla looked at her in fear, and bit her lip. She pulled her hands out of Laura’s hair but it was too late; Laura wasn’t going to ignore what had happened. 

She brushed her thumb over Carmilla’s clit as lightly as she could, and Carmilla gasped violently, her body unable to hide her reaction. 

“How shall I make you pay for disobeying me?” Laura said slowly, her voice growing husky. Another light brush of Carmilla’s clit caused her to gasp again, and she squirmed a little, rolling her hips, trying to find more friction. Laura bit her lip at the sight of Carmilla squirming beneath her. She began to run her hands up Carmilla’s stomach, just brushing the skin with the tips of her fingers. As Laura’s fingers continued up, the girl beneath her arched her back, eager to feel more. But Laura wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Instead, her fingers kept brushing past where Carmilla wanted her to go. They brushed under her breasts in teasing circles, feeling each shaking breath that shook through Carmilla. She moved them up a little, teasing and tracing along the skin just under her nipples, and watched as Carmilla bit her lip in anticipation, so eager for Laura to reach where she needed her to go. But instead, with a smug smirk on her face, she went the other way, allowing her fingers instead to run back down her stomach, tracing along her toned faint muscles. Carmilla groaned in annoyance, and wriggled her hips, asking Laura to hurry up. But Laura didn’t listen, even though she wanted to. She moved her hands even lower, brushing her skin even lighter than before. Her fingers reached her hips, and Carmilla wriggled again, growing impatient and Laura grinned. 

She moved her hands to they were on the inside of Carmilla’s legs, just below her knees, and began the process again. Her fingers moved slow, antagonizing slow, and Carmilla groaned in annoyance again. 

“Laura…” she moaned out as Laura’s hands stopped and began making circles on either side of her vagina, “Please…”

“Please what?” Laura said, raising her eyebrow a little. 

“Please fuck me already,” Carmilla blurted out, twitching her hips, trying to force Laura to touch her. Laura however, only chuckled, and shook her head a little. 

“Such language, Carm. But I suppose,” she dropped down to her knees again, unable to ignore how Carmilla had already started panting in anticipation, “I should really obey the queen.” 

Before she could register how corny that had sounded, Laura sent a tongue flicking through her folds, not holding back. Every time her tongue touched Carmilla’s enlarged clit, the panting girl on the desk twitched from pleasure, and couldn’t hold back her gasps. Without stopping, Laura circled a finger around her entrance, teasing her further. She heard Carmilla about to protest, but before she could form a word, Laura thrusted inside of her, causing Carmilla to cry out and then moan long and loud. Laura rapidly quickened her pace, flicking her clit with her thumb. With her other hand, she began to trail it back up Carmilla’s stomach, massaging her breast, matching it to every flick of her tongue. She felt Carmilla flinch and spasm beneath her, and knew she was getting close. 

Laura stood up, replacing her tongue with her thumb, and added another finger inside of her. Carmilla’s head was thrown back, her back arched, her hips moving in rhythm to every time Laura went deeper inside of her. Laura began kissing her way up Carmilla’s body, tasting the salt of her sweat as she went. Her lips reached Carmilla’s jawline, and Carmilla began breathing harder, her hands clenching at the table under her, trying her best not to move them again. 

“Laura…” Carmilla cried out a little, causing Laura to smirk. 

“Yes, Carmilla?” she asked softly, whispering directly into her ear. 

“Please,” she pleaded, and Laura didn’t need to hear anymore. She increased her efforts one last time, and Carmilla came undone beneath her, calling out Laura’s name one final time before collapsing on the table in a panting mess. Laura stood up straight and looked down at the very pleased looking villain and smirked again. 

“Well that was unexpected,” she heard Carmilla slur out, and chuckled a little. 

“What makes you think we are done yet?” Before Carmilla could respond, the phone on Laura’s belt rang out loudly, causing her to jump a little. Laura pulled it out and looked at the caller id. She groaned in annoyance, then picked it up. 

“Kirsch, this is not a good time… wait, slow down I can’t understand you. What was that about Danny?” Laura felt the ground shake a little and she heard a loud deep bang erupt from somewhere in the distance. She could just about make out what Kirsch was saying, and her heart stopped. She turned slowly towards Carmilla,, “Carm, what the hell did you do?” 

***

(20 minutes later)  
Danny could not sit still in the car next to Kirsch. He had insisted he drove, which annoyed her because his truck was a death trap; it was 20 years old at least, and she wasn’t sure if her seatbelt or the airbags were working at all. They were passing police car after police car, and she looked at all the uniformed officers on duty, all armed to the teeth, all on high alert. She felt sick to her stomach. She had requested this day off weeks ago, and even though she protested, her captain insisted she stay out of uniform. 

“You work too hard, Lawrence,” he had said, “Go and enjoy your day off.” She scowled as she remembered that. How could she enjoy her day off when there was a possible threat to everyone’s safety? Protecting people was her job, and now she was being denied that. First, she couldn’t protect Laura, and now she couldn’t do her job. She felt so helpless. 

She jolted in her seat as the truck went over a speed bump violent, the suspension barely working. 

“Come on, SJ, you can do it old girl,” Kirsch said, rubbing a hand on the dashboard gently. Danny rolled her eyes. 

“SJ?” she said, feigning interest but really, she was invested in scanning the crowds, looking for anything suspicious. 

“Yeah, Sarah Jane. We’ve been through some times together, haven’t we, SJ?” he rubbed the dashboard again, and somehow it sounded like the car purred a response. But Danny wasn’t paying enough attention to say for sure. She began biting her nails before she caught herself doing it, and heard her mother’s voice in her head:

“No one’s going to date a girl with bleeding fingers, missy,” she would say to Danny. She stopped instantly, but it didn’t help, and so she ran a frustrated hand through her hair. 

“Yo, D-bear, you need to relax,” Kirsch said as he turned into the car park, and somehow managed to find a space quickly. 

“Okay, if we’re going to be spending the whole day together, you cannot keep calling me D-bear. I brought my mace, and I’m not afraid to use it,” Kirsch threw his head back and laughed, but stopped quickly, smiling at her gently. 

“Alright, alright. I shall refer to you only as Danny from now on,” he said as he stepped out of the truck, slamming the door shut behind him. Danny followed, stepping down from her seat and winced at the squeal and groaning of his suspension under her weight. She looked up to see one of the guys from her precinct, and walked over to him. 

“Hey Geoff,” she said, and he turned and smiled at her. 

“’Sup Lawrence. You here to watch the game?”

“Yeah, my roommate’s coworker got tickets and asked me to tag along.”

“That the guy trying to get your attention over there?” Danny looked around to see Kirsch waving frantically at her, and when he saw her looking, he held up a shirt that said something about how badly her favorite player sucked. She scowled at him for a moment, but couldn’t help but laugh when he only stuck out his tongue at her in response. 

“Seems like you like him,” Geoff mocked, and Danny swiftly smacked his arm playfully. 

“And you’ll do well to keep that to yourself if you know what’s best for you,” she said as she turned and walked towards her goofball of an escort. She would never admit it in a million years to anyone, but Danny had had a crush on Kirsch for a while now. Since he started showing a non-frat boy side to his personality that is. 

It was Laura’s birthday to be exact, and Danny was stuck in a bar, watching a very drunk Laura very badly flirting with a strange girl. She heard Kirsch sit down before she saw him, and she had rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t you have some beer to go chug?” she hissed at him, but he only laughed. 

“Nah, I ran out a while ago.” He responded, and Danny rolled her eyes again. She never liked his jokes, and right now she wanted to be left alone. Especially seeing as her team were losing their match. As they lost another point, Danny groaned. Kirsch then made a sound that was a mixture of a gasp of horror and surprise. 

“Wait, you’re not a Bears fan, are you?” Danny looked at him, and blinked rapidly.

“I’m sorry, you’re not?” 

“No way. The only thing the Bears are good at is losing, so why would I?” this had sparked an argument between them that lasted hours, and before she knew it, Laura came stumbling back to them, slurring out that she wanted to go home. Danny said she’d get a taxi, but Kirsch had quickly offered to drive them. 

“Haven’t you been drinking?” Danny asked, and Kirsch shook his head. 

“I actually don’t drink. Especially if I’m driving,” he held up his car keys, and began to help Danny carry Laura back to his truck. After 10 minutes of shoving, they all piled in, and they were on their way. Which is when Danny realized what had happened. Kirsch had distracted her. As soon as they were arguing, she forgot all about Laura and the strange girl that was apparently good enough for her. She gave him a sideways look. Had he planned that? 

When they finally managed to get Laura up to their flat and into bed, Kirsch quickly said that he would leave. 

“Don’t you want to stay for a coffee?” Danny asked, and then wanted to smack herself. Why was she offering? But to her relief, he shook his head. 

“Nah, I have to work tomorrow, but thanks anyway,” he opened the door, and was about to walk out when he looked back at her, grinning his dopy grin from ear to ear, “See you around, D-Bear,” and then he was gone. Danny growled under her breath. Nope, she didn’t like him, not one bit. It was never going to happen. 

She had of course, been very wrong. Over the years after that, she had found herself liking him more and more, and it was getting harder and harder to deny it. Maybe she should go for it. Laura was never going to see her as more than a friend and she should just accept this and move on. So now, walking over to him, she couldn’t stop smiling at his goofy expression. She tore the shirt out of his hands, throwing it back on the stand and put her hands on her hips. 

“Don’t you have a job to do?” she snapped at him, trying with all her might to stop herself from smiling, and failing miserably. 

“Not until the game actually starts, no, so until then,” he looked back at the stand, and turned his back to her, only to turn around again, revealing a stupidly big Bears hat on his head, “I can be as much of a child as I want.”

“That is ridiculous and not something I signed up for,” Danny said, walking off towards the stadium, partly not caring if he followed her or not. He was such a big man child, it was infuriating. But he was a loveable man child, she couldn’t deny that. She heard his footsteps beside her, and she couldn’t stop herself from feeling a wave of relief at his presence. She hated herself for it, but there it was. That annoying feeling of liking him that she tried so hard to put out of her mind. 

“You excited for the Bears to lose badly?” he said, confidence oozing out of his voice that it drove her to a dangerous point of anger. 

“The Bears aren’t going to lose, just you-” her voice trailed off as she spoke, her eyes trying to process what they were seeing. She knew that uniform, she knew that symbol, and she knew the face. The person was walking past her now, wearing a tattered red shirt and battered leather waist coat. As he drew closer, she swallowed, unable to tear her eyes away from the very new tattooed symbol of a card Club that was on his neck. But what really made her blood run cold was the fact she knew exactly who he was; she had seen his face on the wall of her office every day for as long as she had been working there. Daniel Smith was his name. Wanted for his gang connections and possible links to a number of terror attacks. He was the bomb maker. And if he was here, then that could only mean one thing. The bomb was here, and everyone was in danger. 

Danny leapt into action, spinning around and follow Daniel Smith straight towards the car park, ignoring Kirsch’s voice, as he asked what was wrong. She snapped her head left and right, but Geoff was gone, nowhere to be seen. In fact, she couldn’t see any of the police now. Where were they all? She turned her attention back to Daniel now. She wasn’t going to let him out of her sight, not for a moment longer. 

He was heading straight for the motorbikes, and pulling out a set of keys. Danny had to move fast. She may have been in plain clothes, but she never left the house without her badge or gun. Never. She needed to use them now. She had to. People were in danger. 

“Hey Danny, wait up!” Kirsch suddenly called out, and Danny watched in horror as Daniel snapped his head around and looked dead at her. Danny knew the game was up; she knew he had made her. But she had to wait. He had to make the first move. And she didn’t have to wait long. 

Daniel turned sharply and sprinted towards one of the bikes, not even 3 strides away. Danny pulled out her gun and aimed, calling out for him to stop. But the thug ignored her; she didn’t expect him to listen, but it was worth a shot. As he tore through the crowds of people in the car park, Danny spun around and started sprinting towards the truck. 

“Keys, now!” she bellowed at Kirsch, who was a foot behind her. He tossed them to her, and she caught them effortlessly, unlocking and flinging open the door with such force that SJ shook violently, protesting every movement. Danny didn’t stop to check if Kirsch was there with her. She didn’t have time. Daniel was almost in the clear, and they were going to struggle to keep up anyway. They needed every second they could spare. By this point, everyone had jumped out of the way of the traffic, so Danny was able to catch up to the bike as it began to leave the carpark. Once they were on the road, Danny never took her eyes off the bike, watching and following as it ducked in and out of traffic, speeding through orange lights and causing a number of people to brake sharply and honk angrily. 

Danny wished they had taken her car. It was faster, newer, and she kept a portable siren which would have been really very useful at this point. 

“Danny what the hell is going on?” Kirsch asked loudly, having to raise his voice over the screaming noise of the engine. 

“That guy works for the Queen. He’s a suspected bomb maker, and we need to get him so he can tell us about the bomb.”

“Bomb? What bomb?” 

“The bomb that must be under that stadium, do you not listen to the news?” Danny snapped back, trying to focus so much on driving that she couldn’t think straight. 

“Oh my God, all those people…” Kirsch said, mostly to himself, but Danny heard him, and put her foot to the floor, causing SJ to protest even more as she started to pick up even more speed. The bike was only a few cars in front of them now, and they were gaining slowly. They had time. She was sure of it. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kirsch react to something. She turned her head to see him pulled away from something, pushing himself against the door. Danny turned to look at what he was staring at. She saw a flash of white metal and then felt herself being thrown sideways, with so much force that Danny was sure it snapped her neck. She heard the sound of crushing metal, and felt the entire car floating, opening her eyes just enough to see glass hovering in front of her, to see her arms dangling helplessly above her head. And then suddenly they were thrown upwards again, and Danny slammed her head against the door. She felt dizzy, and weak. She couldn’t think, couldn’t react. She couldn’t even move. 

When she felt like the car had stopped rolling, Danny turned her head gently, just enough to look at Kirsch. His head was hanging unnaturally, his eyes closed, his body slumped and limp. Danny swallowed, tasting blood in her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but instead only hissed in pain, and felt it dripple past her lips. She looked down, and she blinked a few times, unable to register what she was seeing. She put her hand on the piece of metal that was now sticking out of her stomach. It was real, it really was there. 

Danny put her head against the headrest slowly, breathing heavily and feeling the panic rise inside of her. She heard the faint sound of a car door opening, and she turned her head a little to find where it was coming from. But her eyes were too heavy, one of them too full of blood to see anything. She heard slow footsteps crunching glass with each step, and she willed herself to look. 

Standing by her window, looking at her, was a figure that she didn’t recognise. They weren’t particularly tall, but their head looked bigger than usual, and from what she could make out, their hands where behind their back, their chest puffed out. Suddenly one of their arms moved and her eyes focused just enough to see her worst nightmare. She tried to scream, tried to move, but she could only gasp as each movement sent pain scurrying through her stomach. She heard a cruel, unfeeling, distorted laugh, and heard the gun cock, and knew exactly what was going to come next. 

“Tell your girlfriend that the Queen sends her regards,” Danny had time to frown with confusion before she heard the bang. She thought she heard someone call her name, but it didn’t matter now. It was too late. It was all over for her.


End file.
